


The End is in Your Eyes

by ZahlzStar



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alpha!Laura, F/F, Werewolf AU, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 19:36:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 46,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5468438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZahlzStar/pseuds/ZahlzStar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A decade ago Carmilla would have thought that some misguided quest to find and kidnap a witch from inside one of the strongest werewolf packs in the country, in order to break a hex placed on her by her own mother, was laughable. Yet, here she is. Sharing a car with her insufferable brother because if she has any hope of breaking said hex, Carmilla is going to have to keep Will close, or at the very least, alive. Infiltrating the Hollis pack could be considered a suicide mission but it’s not like she really has all that much to lose at this point. </p><p>Or the one where Carmilla is hexed and Laura is an alpha.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Plan B

 

_“Maman, please don’t do this. I won’t do it again, I promise,” Carmilla could feel her chest tightening in fear of what the woman smiling so sweetly in front of her would do next._

_“Enough groveling, my darling girl. It’s not going to do you any good,” Lilita chided. It was as though Carmilla was just a young child that had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. If only it were that easy._

_“Perhaps if I were to clip your wings, so to speak, you wouldn’t stray so far from home,” The smile that spreads across her mother’s face sends shivers through Carmilla’s body._

_“Maman, please,” Carmilla began to plead once more but dark energy wraps around the air between them and an agonizing pain takes over. In an instant it was over, everything disappeared and all that remained was an all-consuming blackness._

 

~

“Fuck,” Carmilla mutters to herself when she wakes in a cold sweat.

“Another bad dream, Kitty?” Will asks from the passenger seat, an overly large smile resting on his face.

“Cut the shit, William. I know you don’t give a damn,” Carmilla had to physically restrain herself from growling, simply because it hit too close to home to the damaged panther residing inside her.

“Really, it hurts that you think so little of me,” Will holds a hand up to his chest to emphasise his words. An icy glare is enough to silence him this time, though an irritating smirk settles on his face. The car is blissfully silent for a moment, but Will’s mere presence has Carmilla on edge. Carmilla takes out her phone from the center console and taps around, bringing up the map detailing the road in front of her. She tries to anyway, the cell service is so spotty here that the page is barely loading. Probably intentional, but at the very least it’s a sign that she is headed in the right direction. An odd smile settles on Carmilla’s face and she shakes her head at the current situation she has found herself in. A decade ago Carmilla would have thought that some misguided quest to find and kidnap a witch from inside one of the strongest werewolf packs in the country, in order to break a hex placed on her by her own mother, was laughable. Yet, here she is. Sharing a car with her insufferable brother because if she has any hope of breaking said hex, Carmilla is going to have to keep Will close, or at the very least, alive. Infiltrating the Hollis pack could be considered a suicide mission but it’s not like she really has all that much to lose at this point.

After a few more miles, Will becomes noticeably more agitated and after maybe ten minutes Carmilla has had enough.

“I swear to God, Will. If you don’t stop fidgeting I’m going to tie you to the roof,” Carmilla warns but her threat doesn’t seem to work all that well, Will is still too busy scanning the forest around them.

“When was the last time you saw an animal around here?” Will asks and Carmilla is about to spit out a witty remark but stops when she realizes that she can’t actually remember. There hasn’t been a bird or deer, or rabbit for at least twenty miles and Carmilla finally begins the feel as uneasy as her brother.

“Wolf Territory, maybe they’ve been overhunting?” Carmilla suggests but even as she says the words she can see how weak that is.

“They’re werewolves. They might be mutts, but they still know how to hunt without stripping a forest. Not to mention the fact that they can buy as much food as they want,” Will points out, voicing the very thought that was going through Carmilla’s mind as well.

“Then this is something else,” Carmilla states and Will simply offers a hum of agreement.

The road veers around a blind corner and before the car is even fully straight again Carmilla slams on the brakes to avoid hitting a log across the span of the road. After recovering from being thrown forward in the seat, Carmilla huffs before getting out of the car to examine the log.

“Son of a bitch,” Carmilla curses and drives a boot into the side of the log in annoyance, moving it a few inches.

“Come on then, Numbnuts. Help me move this,”

Will pokes his head out of the car window and looks at her for a moment, “What? Is that big, old log too much for you?”

“Will, I wasn’t kidding about tying you to the roof. Get your anchored ass out of the car and help me,” Carmilla doesn’t bother to turn about but smirks to herself when she hears Will cuss her out under his breath and slam the door shut. After reaching the log, Will bends down to pick up one end while Carmilla grabs the other and begins to walk it towards the car while he walks it to the side of the road. Just as the log is dropped to the ground Carmilla hears the snap of a twig from within the trees and freezes. A slight breeze has picked up while the car had been stopped and a moment later the scent of sweat and adrenaline reaches her senses and alarm bells begin to sound in Carmilla’s head.

“Will!”

The next sound spurs her into motion as the snap of a crossbow releases and Carmilla runs back to the car. Will is slow on the uptake as he misses the urgency and turns towards her at the last second before a wooden stake pierces his right shoulder, the exact place his heart had been a moment earlier. Will lets out a cry of pain and surprise, and against her better judgment, Carmilla races back to him and grabs him before pulling him along back to the car as another stake whizzes through the now vacant air. Knowing that a window of opportunity has opened up Carmilla blurs through the trees, locating their attacker and slamming him against a tree with her hand wrapped tight around his throat. The boy that couldn’t be out of his twenties stares down at her, his eyes wide and the stench of fear rolling off him in waves.

“Who are you and why did you just try to kill us?”

“Filthy vamp,” The boy tries to add malice to his voice but it breaks halfway through and Carmilla simply pulls back to slam him against the tree again, “Don’t make me ask you again.”

“Wait, wait, please don’t kill me. My name’s Bash, I’m a hunter. I work for Mr Vordenberg,” Bash splutters and Carmilla lowers him slightly, thinking back to the last time she had met a Vordenberg.

“Well then, Bash. You can tell your boss that if another one of his hunters tries to take a shot at me or my brother, I’m going to paint the forest red with their entrails. Got it?” Carmilla asks, a terrifying smile clinging to her face. The boy in front of her goes pale white and begins nodding profusely. Taking it as a good sign Carmilla releases the hunter and he races off into the trees. By the time Carmilla gets back to the car, Will has managed to get back into his seat again though his shirt is wet with blood.

“I think it splintered when it went in, I can’t get it all out,” Wills says, already paler than he usually is. Definitely not something that should be happening to a vampire.

“Don’t die on me yet, Fresh Meat. I think we are almost there,”

Sure enough after a few more miles and quite a lot of pained groaning the trees begin to thin out and give way to a large, fortress of a building. At the sight of the heavily fortified building, Carmilla begins to rethink her original plan of infiltrating the place as she takes in the large concrete walls and what looks like, yep, electrified razor wire. Is this a wolf den or a prison? Jesus Christ. Well, there goes that plan.

“I’d say it’s time for Plan B,” Carmilla says as a puzzled Will looks back at her.

“Plan B, what’s plan B?”

“Watch and learn, little brother,” Carmilla smirks before stepping out of the car and swaying up to the main gate. After reaching the gate and realizing that she stilled hasn’t been greeted by the welcome wagon, Carmilla stops for a moment to think before reaching up and knocking on the thick steel.

“Hey, furballs, anyone home? Terrifying vampire here to ravage your virgins and steal your witch,” Carmilla calls out and the large gate opens to reveal two giant sized werewolves, one sporting a dopey smile and the other a scowl that could very well rival her own.

“What the hell do you want, bloodsucker?” The wolf with a mean streak speaks first and Carmilla entertains the thought that perhaps this is the Hollis Alpha everyone has so much to say about. After a moment, the dopey one beside her pipes up, “Yeah, what brings a vamp down here, sexy lady?” The previous thought is scrapped because while the ginger glares at the idiot, there is clearly no real superiority between the two.

“While ravaging a few virgins wouldn’t go unappreciated, I need to talk to your Alpha. Why don’t you run along and go fetch her, pup?” Carmilla turn's her attention to the dopey one again and remains completely unfazed by the icy glare she's receiving from the other wolf.

“There’s no need, I’m already here,” a new voice calls out, an easy tone that clearly holds power as the few wolves that have gathered all tense briefly before hunching slightly to submit to their Alpha. The two wolves in front part quickly but stand closely behind the newcomer as Carmilla takes her in. A lot smaller than expected, far too young, and playing into the image of a naive child. Despite this, sharp brown eyes hold all the power, and her stance shows that she knows it. There is a confidence behind the dazzling smile that draws Carmilla in, almost blinding her with just how closely that smile resembles sunshine.

“Excuse me, but who the hell are you?” The Alpha asks, a playful smile on her lips.

“Carmilla, this should be interesting, sweetheart,”

The Alpha cocks her head to the side, studying the vampire in front of her. As she takes another step, Carmilla notices that she can’t be any more than an inch taller than the wolf, something that isn’t particularly common for her. As the tiny wolf moves, the girl behind her does too, already reaching a hand out in warning, “Laura,”

A look of annoyance flashes over Laura’s face and she growls at the girl, the outstretched hand stopping an inch from its destination. The tall girl whimpers quietly, dipping her head and taking a step back. It’s quite clear that she must be Laura’s Beta, no one of a lower rank would dare to make a move like that on an alpha. Carmilla takes note of the interaction and glances towards the dopey wolf once more, wondering where he fits into all of this. He seems to have enough sense not to behave as the ginger wolf does, but he doesn’t seem to submit to her either. Perhaps this particular alpha has two Betas. By the time Carmilla has finished her internal analysis her gaze flicks back to Laura’s only to see that Laura is watching her just as intently. Laura’s gaze seems to burn into her, searching for something that most don’t bother to.

“So, I’m gonna need to steal one of your witches,” Carmilla begins, getting back to business and trying to ignore the ever increasing number of wolves that have appeared around them.

A scoff of a laugh escapes from Laura before she composes herself again, fixing an incredulous look at the vampire.

"I’m sorry, you're asking if you can steal one of my pack’s witches?”

“I figured it would be more polite if I asked nicely first. I’m not usually one for niceties, but what can I say? I’m a sucker for a pretty face,” Carmilla replies, a confident grin resting on her face.

“Kirsch doesn’t get called ‘pretty’ often, but I’m sure he appreciates it all the same,” Laura’s grin could very much be considered ‘shit-eating’ at this moment. The smile drops from Carmilla’s face at the same time an indignant, “dude,” comes from the dopey wolf. A few murmurs of laughter surface from the gathered crowd and Laura looks entirely too proud of herself.

“Now, are you ready to talk to me like an adult, or are you going to continue to treat me like a lovesick groupie?” Laura asks, her earlier humour having disappeared.

“As you wish, Alpha. I’m here for Lola Perry,”

Moments after the words left Carmilla’s lips, a shriek sounds from behind Kirsch and the other beta. All eyes move towards another ginger, this one noticeably paling. Inches from the girl's feet sat a plate of brownies, hovering just above the ground. Alongside the newcomer stands a tall, blonde girl with her hand outstretched towards the plate. With a flick of her wrist, the girl brings the plate to her other hand and carefully reaches towards her friend.

“You dropped these, Perry,” the blonde witch says gently and holds the plate up for the ginger witch to reclaim.

“I was hoping to greet our guest with these, but I think I’d much prefer to keep my distance at the moment,” Perry murmurs and grips the plate of brownies a little tighter.

“It’s all right, Perr. She’s not going to hurt you,” Laura offers the woman a reassuring smile before turning back towards Carmilla, “She’s not going to be stealing you anytime soon either,”

“The hell I’m not. I’ve come a very long way, and I’m not leaving without Curly Sue over there,” Carmilla retorts.

“I’m not sure if you are incredibly brave, incredibly stupid, or just plain desperate, but you are intriguing. Honestly, it’s the only reason I haven’t torn out your throat with my teeth for having the nerve to step foot on my territory and demand that I hand over a member of my pack,” Laura states, and Carmilla has to fight the urge to bare her fangs at the blatant threat.

“So I’ll ask again, and I’m hoping you will be a little more respectful this time. My temper really is something to be wary of,”

For a moment, Carmilla takes in her surroundings and wonders how long it would take to rip out the heart of every wolf here, and whether or not she could do it before someone does indeed tear out her throat. Or before Will decides to kick the bucket, either ending was not particularly appealing. After deciding that in her current state, the odds are not in her favour, Carmilla takes a deep breath and goes for Plan C.

“Look, I’m not an idiot, I know exactly how outmatched I am. But you are right, I am desperate. I need a hex broken, and from what I’ve been told, Lola Perry is the witch I need.”

“What kind of hex?” Laura asks, curiosity taking over from the previous controlled anger.

“The kind that leaves me at a severe disadvantage, and clearly I’m not going to get what I want with violence. I have someone very important to my predicament bleeding out in my car, and no other options,” Carmilla risks a glance back towards her car and sees that Will is still in the position she left him in.

“Why aren’t you with your coven?”

“My coven is the reason I’m hexed in the first place,”

This seems to surprise Laura and she stops for a moment before continuing, ”So you hold no loyalty to them?”

“As far as I’m concerned, they can all go to hell,” Carmilla responds honestly, a bad taste in her mouth at the thought of her former coven.

“Alright, I’ll make you a deal. If you swear not to harm anyone under my care and give any and all information I ask on your former coven, then I will grant you sanctuary. Our medics will treat your companion to the best of their ability, and Perry will look into breaking this hex of yours,”

The unnamed beta voices her disapproval once again, “Laura, I don’t think this is a good idea,”

“Danny, if I want your opinion on a matter I will ask for it. Your blatant disregard for my decisions as Alpha is really starting to get on my nerves. I really would not like to have to put you back in your place, but I will do it if I must,” Laura speaks and power rolls off her in waves. Every single wolf in her proximity is cowering and Danny is nodding her head, despite looking like she is in pain.

“Yes, Alpha,”

Laura nods to herself and the tension in the air immediately dissipates.

“Deal,” Carmilla says and Laura smiles again before turning her attention to those around her.

“Kirsch, go with Carmilla and help take her companion down to Laf. Perry, how about those brownies?”

Despite having nearly scared the witch to death earlier, Carmilla is surprised to see that she bounces back almost immediately and begins to distribute the brownies to those around her.

 

“This should be very interesting indeed,” Laura mutters quietly to herself this time.  

 


	2. Anger Management

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things take a bad turn and Carmilla finds ways to work out her anger.

“I think that’s just about everything,” Laura announces, and notices that Carmilla is once again watching her intently. She has been since she got here really, and it’s not something that is really all that new for Laura. Becoming an alpha at the age of 16 definitely gets you a lot of attention. No, the strange thing was that each look seemed to convey a different emotion. Some gazes showed interest or amusement, but the ones that were the most intriguing were those full of lust. Laura had had her fair share of sexual trysts with the women in both her pack, and neighbouring packs, but never had she received a look that so strongly invoked her animalistic side. She would be lying if she said that the urge to pin the vampire against the closest available surface and claim her hadn’t been tempting her the entire tour.

  
“Nice place you’ve got here, cupcake,” Carmilla responds, sending another wave of Seduction Eyes.  
“Having one of the strongest packs in the country does come with the perk of having some pretty cool stuff,” Laura responds and watches as a smirk grows on the other girl’s face.  
“Not to brag or anything,” Carmilla teases and Laura has to fight a blush.  
“I think I’m entitled to a little bragging every now and then,”

  
“No complaint from me, Cutie. You’ve definitely got a lot to brag about,” Carmilla’s eyes rake over Laura’s body and she knows that the vampire isn’t talking about The Base anymore.  
“I have heard that a few times before,”  
“I suppose I should just be glad that your pack didn’t decide to revolt and burn me at the stake,” Carmilla replies breathily, drawing Laura’s attention back to her lips.  
“My pack respect my decisions, and even if they didn’t, they know I’m the strongest wolf that the Hollis pack has ever seen. No one would be stupid enough to go against my orders,”  
“That amazon of yours seems to have other ideas,” Carmilla drops her smile and her face sours at the mention of Danny.  
“Danny needs to learn that I’m not a child that needs to be protected, I can understand that my father would still worry about me but with Danny it’s just gotten ridiculous. I’ve been alpha for three years now and I’m still here, I must be doing something right. Or maybe I’ve just been lucky, because God forbid, tiny, little Laura actually be capable of looking after herself,” Laura can tell she sounds bitter towards the end but after this many years of doubt and coddling, she’s damn well sick of it.

  
“Well, I don’t about those idiots, but from what I’ve seen, Cupcake, you are pretty damn incredible. Just while I’ve been here I’ve seen you cause an entire courtyard of people to cower, and that was before you even started chewing out your beta,” Carmilla responds and Laura feels the anger begin to dissipate.  
“I may be a vampire, but I’ve read enough about werewolves to know that while the role does give some higher level of control, that sort of power doesn’t just come with the alpha gig. That was all you, Laura,” Carmilla continues, her voice completely serious. Laura is speechless for a moment, processing what the vampire had just said.  
“Also, not gonna lie, that show of dominance earlier was hotter than hell,”

  
Just like that the seriousness of the situation was gone, and Laura doesn’t even fight the urge to roll her eyes.  
“Wouldn’t have pegged you as a bottom, Carm,” Laura says and Carmilla’s eyes grow darker for a moment.  
“Nicknames already? At least buy me dinner first,” Carmilla replies, but her voice is huskier than before and Laura can tell that the previous proposition may have had a little more of an effect on the girl than she thought.  
“You know, you should be careful. If you keep flirting with me I may not be able to control myself. I think I would quite enjoy pinning you against a wall and teaching you a little something about Alpha Dominance,” Laura warns and she can see the surprise in the vampire’s eyes at such a blatant admission, but beneath the surprise the vampire’s lust is once again very present.

  
“Well then, I can’t say I’d be opposed,” Carmilla rasps, and until this point Laura hadn’t noticed just how close together they were. The vampire reaches up with a confident hand to tuck some hair that had fallen free behind her ear, before slowly sliding her hand down her cheek, across her jaw, and down to tangle in the hand at the back of her neck. Right in this moment, Laura can only think of three things. One, she really, really wants to fuck Carmilla. Two, her father would very much not approve of this. Three, there is someone coming up the hallway, radiating worry and pushing their heart rate higher than it should be. It takes a lot more to pull away than she’d like to admit, but she does so and as the confused vampire in front of her opens her mouth to speak, Lafontaine appears from around the corner and the vampire seems to understand the sudden change in behaviour.

  
“Carmilla, you need to get down to medical,” Lafontaine says and turns on their heel disappearing back the way they had appeared. Carmilla gives Laura a look of concern and without a word they both take off towards medical. It only takes a minute or two to get down there and when they do it’s to a deathly pale Will screaming in pain, Kirsch apologetically breaking the vampire’s leg, and a stressed Lafontaine pacing.

  
“What the frilly hell is this?!” Carmilla demands and with the exception of Will’s agonized cries everything stops.  
“Carmilla, I need you to listen to me, alright?” Lafontaine begins but Carmilla pushes past them and through the door to pull Kirsch away by the collar of his shirt.  
“What have you been doing to him?” Carmilla is furious at this point and while Kirsch is cowering in her grip, Lafontaine runs into the room with Laura following closely behind.  
“Stop, Carmilla. He’s just doing what I asked of him, this is the only thing keeping Will alive,” Lafontaine explains hurriedly but it’s enough to get Carmilla to release Kirsch and turn back towards Lafontaine.  
“How is this possibly helping him?” Carmilla is still seething but she appears slightly less homicidal.  
“When Will was hit by the stake it shattered and lodged pieces in his chest, theoretically the pieces should have been pushed out during the healing process after I gave him blood,” Lafontaine begins and Carmilla watches them intently.  
“However, instead of pushing the pieces out, Will’s body began to healing around them. For the most part it wouldn’t have been a problem but a few of the shards are being pushed against his heart, if he heals completely the shards will pierce his heart and kill him,”

  
As Lafontaine spoke Will began to writhe again before calling through gritted teeth, “Lafontaine, the pieces are moving again,”  
“Kirsch,” Lafontaine simply says his name and the tall wolf steps forwards and snaps Will’s newly healed leg. The solid crunching sound causes everyone in the room to cringe.  
“So you are trying to slow down the healing process?” Carmilla asks, having apparently come to an understanding of the situation.  
“Yes, but I’m worried it’s not going to work for much longer,” Lafontaine responds wearily.  
“Why don’t you just cut him open and get the shards out?”  
“It’s too risky to open him up with the shards that close to his heart. There’s every possibility that opening him up would speed up the healing process and kill him,”  
“So you can’t get them out, and you can’t keep breaking his leg for the rest of his life, what does that leave?” Carmilla sounds almost resigned now, likely already understanding how futile this is.  
“I’m sorry, Carmilla, I truly am. I don’t think there is any way I can save him, all I can do is try to keep him alive as long as possible,” Lafontaine says and Carmilla seems to crumble.  
“If he dies, I’ll never break the hex,” Carmilla mutters, and Laura can see the pain in her eyes. Whatever this hex entails, it’s clearly something very dear to the vampire.

A moment later Will begins to cry out again, pale fingers clutching at his chest, “Lafontaine, it’s not working. I can still feel them moving.”  
Before Lafontaine even has the chance to call on Kirsch again Will’s body spasms, before tensing and finally falling still. Will’s skin takes on the sickly white that speaks loud and clear for what just happened and the entire room falls still. At least until Carmilla snaps out of her stupor and stalks over to her fallen brother, grabbing his by the shirt and shaking.  
“Damn it, Will. Wake up, you have put me through way too much shit to die on me now. Come on!” Carmilla is yelling now at the still body in her hands. She stops after a moment and places the dead vampire back down on the table before she straightens up. Laura can immediately sense the change in the girl and instinctively takes a step closer.

  
“I gave my word that I wouldn’t harm anyone here, but I strongly suggest that you all run, because I don’t know if I am going to be able to stick to that promise,” Carmilla says, her voice low and dangerous. Lafontaine and Kirsch both look to Laura and after a nod of the alpha's head they both leave the room. The second the door clicks shut Carmilla blurs into motion, first moving to drive her fist through one of the solid glass windows and in the next second she is across the room again throwing a metal stool towards another window. As Carmilla goes for a third window, Laura runs up behind her and wraps her arm around the girl’s body, restricting any further movement. At the contact Carmilla begins to buck and squirm in an attempt to break the bear hug, but Laura is stronger in this position than the girl in her arms.

  
“Carmilla, stop. I know you are hurting but you can’t just destroy everything in your path. That isn’t going to solve anything,”  
“What the fuck am I supposed to do, Laura?! He was my only chance to break this damn spell, and now he’s dead! It’s over,” Carmilla begins to yell but her voice dies down again by the end.  
“Anything is better than this, okay. We will figure something out, I’m not giving up on you. I know I haven’t known you for very long, but I know you deserve better than that, Carm.”  
The vampire is silent for a moment so Laura presses on,"I get that you are angry, I would be too, but I can't let you tear down my entire base because of it,"  
Carmilla slumps in Laura's arms, convincing Laura that she has at least finished fighting for the moment.  
"What else do you propose I do then? I'm not a good person, Laura. I can't just let go of my anger, I'm a vampire. I'm violent, impulsive, destructive. I'm not some righteous hero sent to save the world," Carmilla says, but it sparks an idea in Laura's mind.

  
"Do you trust me?" Laura asks and Carmilla observes her, searching her face.  
"Yes, I'm not sure why and it's probably not a good idea for my own health, but yes. I trust you," Carmilla breathes and Laura finds herself smiling.  
“Good, because I have an idea of exactly what you can do,”  
“That sounds rather ominous, don’t you think?” Carmilla asks, apparently already getting back to her overly confident self.  
“Follow me,” Laura says and grabs ahold of the other girl’s hand in order to pull her along with her.

Carmilla doesn’t seem to have any objections so Laura continues to pull her down the hall before taking a turn and tapping the button for the elevator. In this situation Laura is definitely glad that she had an elevator system installed around the base. The place really is huge, so it just seemed like something worth doing. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy running up and down the large ramps, solely so stairs weren’t necessary, with the pups though. After riding all the way to the top floor Laura led Carmilla down the hall and past the Beta apartments, and towards hers. Laura isn’t particularly worried about running into Danny or Kirsch because the former would likely be down in the gym, and the latter would likely be down in the mess hall. Carmilla has remained silent thus far and Laura isn’t sure if it’s because the girl has figured out Laura’s intentions, or because she hasn’t. The moment of truth arrives and Laura opens her door and steps inside while she waits for Carmilla to step inside too. The second she does Laura turns on her heel, grabs Carmilla by the shirt collar and slams the girl back into the door, forcing it closed behind them. Carmilla’s surprise is evident but dark eyes are scanning Laura’s and the wolf can see her own reflection which such a close proximity.

  
“What are you doing, Laura?” Carmilla asks, her voice well and truly encased with lust.  
“You said you wanted to get angry, so get angry,” Laura orders, pulling the girl back before slamming her against the door again. The vampire releases a growl before launching forward at the other girl’s lips. Laura openly welcomes the advance before increasing her effort in the kiss and biting Carmilla’s bottom lip hard enough to make the girl gasp. Without breaking the kiss Laura reaches down to Carmilla’s t-shirt and rips clean down the middle. The torn shirt falls open and Carmilla shakes her shoulders in order to rid herself of the shirt before reaching back to unhook her black lace bra and toss it to the side. Without hesitation, Laura latches her mouth onto the pale skin of Carmilla’s neck, but before she can delve lower it’s the vampire that moves first this time. With quick hands she tears Laura’s button up open, ignoring the few buttons that go flying. The next thing to come off is Laura’s bra and that goes flying as Laura pulls Carmilla from the door and tosses her towards the bed.

In her haste Laura manages to push her towards a side table, knocking the lamp that was resting on it to the ground. Neither of the two care at all, and in order to speed up the process Laura is shoving her towards the bed again. As soon as Carmilla’s legs touch the bed is Laura pushing forward again, this time straddling the girl. Carmilla pushes up to meet Laura’s lips and the kiss is sloppy, but right now it’s still not enough. Laura breaks the kiss before moving down to place open mouthed kisses along the vampire’s neck before diving further down to the pale, unblemished skin of her breasts. Laura is more than willing to latch onto Carmilla's nipple for a few slow moments before moving onto the other to give it the same treatment. The girl beneath her is writhing and releasing moans that only spur the wolf on.

As Laura continues down the smooth pane of Carmilla’s stomach, nipping and sucking as she goes to leaves angry marks. Once Laura reaches the band of Carmilla’s jeans she quickly unbuttons them and tugs them down along with the girl’s underwear. Once the jeans are somewhere across the room Laura moves back up to the girl's mouth and uses one hand to brace herself and the other to drag her nails down Carmilla’s stomach, earning a full body shiver. Without anymore teasing Laura reaches down between Carmilla’s legs and pushes two fingers inside, setting a fast rhythm and marvelling over the feeling of Carmilla’s muscles working around her fingers. Despite the very obvious signs of arousal, the vampire must have been a lot more turned on than Laura had originally thought because soon Carmilla begins to tighten around her fingers. At the last moment Laura adds another finger and begins to curl them, before swiping quickly across the vampire’s clit. It’s all it takes and Carmilla is releasing a high-pitched cry and dragging her nails down Laura’s back. The action draws blood but Laura simply moans in pleasure as the girl beneath her comes back down. Once Laura feels the muscles around her fingers release she pulls her fingers out slowly with a final curl and brings them up to her lips to clean them off. Laura savours the taste for a moment before pulling back to get off the bed before a pale hand flashes out to catch her by the wrist.  
“Not so fast, Alpha. I still have some anger to work out,” Carmilla all but purrs and in the next instant, Laura is pinned down beneath the girl as she works to remove the wolf’s pants.


	3. 75% Positive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lafontaine comes up with a new plan, and Carmilla wonders if there are any fire extinguishers nearby.

“Well, that was interesting,” Carmilla muses after staring at the ceiling for a good five minutes and catching her breath.  
“Interesting is one word for it,” Laura responds, having done the exact same thing as the vampire. The two girls fall into silence again until a phone sounds an alert and Laura climbs out of the bed to pull her phone out of her discarded jeans. The girl makes a small sound of surprise that draws the vampire’s gaze away from the exposed skin that she had just recently been acquainted with to ask, “Something wrong, sweetheart?”  
“Laf wants to talk to you, they also wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t rip their head off if they came to find you. It seems you might’ve frightened them a little bit with your ‘scary vampire’ thing earlier,”  
“Whoa, hey. What’s with the air quotes? I am a scary vampire, I’m terrifying,” Carmilla says indignantly and the wolf regards her for a moment.  
“Sure, Carm. Terrifying,” Laura is clearly trying to suppress a smile which only makes the vampire in question pout.  
“Oh come on, you are literally naked in my bed right now, pouting and hugging my yellow pillow. Do you really expect me to see you as anything other than adorable at the moment?”

  
Carmilla grumbles and tosses the pillow to the other side of the bed before dragging herself out of bed as well. She doesn’t miss the way Laura’s eyes rake over her bare skin but she hardly minds. Laura has managed to put on her bra and underwear already and is in the process of tugging on the jeans that Carmilla had taken great pleasure in removing. Carmilla begins to do the same but stops when she gets to the shirt that is now simply a piece of torn fabric.  
“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Laura says and Carmilla notices that she too is gripping the tattered remains of her shirt.  
“I guess you’ll just have to borrow something of mine,” Laura continues before opening a door and ducking inside the walk-in closet.  
“I would make a joke about being back in the closet but that would just be too easy,”  
“Oh shut up, you,” Laura mutters and grabs another button up from a hanger and heads back out to leave Carmilla to her selection.  
“Well, doesn’t that look like leather?” Carmilla murmurs to herself before snagging a white t-shirt and newly discovered leather jacket. She’s just finishing putting on the jacket when Laura catches sight of her and gives her a look of approval.  
“You look better in that jacket than I do,”  
“I would say that’s impossible, but then again, there is a reason I like leather,”  
Laura simply rolls her eyes and Carmilla counts it as a win.  
"I suppose we should go and see what the good doctor wants,"  
Laura nods her head and pulls the door open, waiting for Carmilla to exit first.

Lafontaine appears more than a little apprehensive by the time the two arrive back down in Medical. Carmilla notices that the mess from her tirade had already been cleaned up, but the windows are still missing glass panes.  
"Relax, Doc. I have no intention of dismembering anyone at the moment,"  
Lafontaine visibly relaxes at that and takes a moment to look at the two of them. A smirk is the only indication that the doctor has noticed the change in wardrobe, but a glare from the Alpha has them quickly backpedaling.

  
“Right, um, anyway. Carmilla, I know you told me that your hex was anchored by Will, and given his recent uh, demise, he isn’t going to be doing a great job at anchoring at the moment,” Lafontaine begins but Carmilla finds that she is quickly losing patience. As fun as the little bout with the cupcake earlier was, the subject of her newly permanent curse is still very much a sore spot for her.  
“Get on with it,” Carmilla growls and the doctor pales.  
“What if it wasn’t Will that you need, but rather just Will’s body?”  
“Keep talking,”  
Carmilla is still very much annoyed but the strange proposition has peaked her interest.

  
“Well, you haven’t outright stormed off yet, so I think you should probably meet someone,” Lafontaine begins to tap at a computer nearby.  
“Laf,” Laura starts but Lafontaine waves her off.  
“It’s totally fine, L. I’ve got a plan,”  
“What’s happening now?” Carmilla asks but Lafontaine straightens up again with a smile on their face that she should probably be a little more concerned about.  
“It’s okay, Jeep, she’s totally cool. Carmilla Karnstein, meet JP Armitage.”

  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Karnstein,” A voice filters through speakers wired into the ceiling.  
“What the creeping hell?” Carmilla asks and looks to Laura for help but receives only an apologetic shrug.  
“JP here, has been trapped in a computer system for the last century, and after hearing word of a computer system that was apparently alive, I went out and found him,” Lafontaine explains, but it doesn’t really offer all that much actual information.  
“How exactly did you manage to get trapped in a computer system?”  
“Well, you see, I accidentally angered a very old, very powerful witch that decided the best method of punishment would be to trap me in a noncorporeal form.”  
“This witch, does she happen to run a coven of vampires and has a penchant for manners?” Carmilla can already recognize Maman’s MO but it doesn’t hurt to be certain.  
“Yes, actually. How did you know that? If you don’t mind my asking,”  
“Lilita Morgan, my mother. Hell of a mean streak, and she really doesn’t like when her darling daughter misbehaves,”

  
“Your own mother is the one that put a hex on you?” It’s Laura that speaks this time, and you’d have probably forgotten she was even there if it weren’t for the air of power and confidence that clings to her very essence.  
“Yes, I did something she didn’t like and she decided to punish me for it,” Carmilla’s tone is clipped but Laura doesn’t seem all that bothered by it.  
“Talk about Mother of the Year,” Lafontaine mutters but a glare from Carmilla has them holding their hands up in surrender.  
“Right, as I was saying, JP is hexed as well. We did try a while back to get him out but I only ever came up with one solution, unfortunately, it just wasn’t very practical at the time.”  
“Wait, Laf, you told me you didn’t have any solutions at all,” Laura interrupts and Lafontaine turns sheepish.  
“Funny story actually, I told Perry I didn’t find anything. I didn’t specifically tell you I didn’t find anything,” Lafontaine points out and Laura does not look amused.  
"Why exactly would you lie to Perry?”  
“Because it turns out that the only way I would be able to undo JP’s hex was if I can transfer him into someone else’s body. I can’t imagine she would be too happy about the idea of me going grave robbing, can you?” Lafontaine’s tone turns angry towards the end before they realize who they are talking to and silently apologize.  
“I suppose she wouldn’t be too happy,” Laura agrees after a moment.

  
“So what you are getting at is that you want to try and Frankenstein JP into Will?” Carmilla speaks and Lafontaine looks back at her.  
“Exactly, I wanted to get your permission first though because you just got here and I didn’t think you’d be too cool with the idea of me experimenting with your dead brother’s body. Also, it wasn’t until I had already said that sentence that I realized how tactless it was,”  
“Gee, you think?”  
“Yeah, sorry about that,”  
“So you really think this will work?”  
“I’m like 75% positive it’ll work. So do I? Have your permission, I mean?”  
“Sure, why not? It’s not like I’ve got anything to lose,” Carmilla says finally and Lafontaine lights up at the prospect.

  
“Okay, so I already have everything planned out and ready to go, I was just waiting on your okay. That being said, this is still going to take a while. Do you think you could maybe go talk to Perry and tell her that we may have fixed our anchoring problem?” Lafontaine asks, already moving about in preparation for their experiment.  
“I suppose it would be better to give her some warning first, who knows how she’d react if you appeared with a reanimated JP out of nowhere,” Laura responds but Lafontaine has already stopped paying attention.  
“This should be interesting,” Laura mutters and Carmilla hums in agreement before they head off to go search for the witch in question. It’s a surprisingly short search because the pair stumble upon Perry in one of the halls.

  
“Uh, Perry. Hi, we need to talk to you,” Laura calls out and Perry walks over quickly.  
“Of course, what do you need, Laura?”  
“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Will didn’t make it?”  
“Oh yes, I’m sorry for your loss, Carmilla,” Perry offers and the vampire shrugs her shoulders.  
“Eh, he was kind of a weasel, I’m more concerned about how his death affects my hex,” Carmilla replies and the witch gives a curt nod after a moment.

  
“Well then, uh, I’m sure you already know that if Will was the anchor for your hex then there’s not a great deal I can help you with,”  
“That’s actually what we came to see you about,” Laura cuts in and Perry turns to the little alpha again.  
“Go on,”

  
“Right, well Laf thinks that they can work a way around that. They are going to try to transfer JP into Will’s body, and hopefully, that should make JP the new anchor, what with being in Will’s body and all,” Laura explains and Perry’s eyes widen in alarm.  
“They are trying to do what?!” Perry shrieks and the register is high enough that Carmilla winces slightly.  
“How could they do that without talking to me first? Do they have any idea how dangerous reanimation can be without proper spells in place?” Perry is beginning to go off on a tirade and Carmilla take a step back, more concerned that the furious witch is going to conjure flames the way she is going.  
“I am going down there right now to give them a piece of my mind. It is just so wildly irresponsible,” Perry rants before turning on her heel and storming off in the direction they had just come.

  
“That went well I think,” Carmilla muses and Laura rolls her eyes before taking off after the witch. By the time Laura rounds the next corner that Perry had disappeared around Carmilla narrowly avoids running into her back. The vampire peeks around Laura to see that Perry has run smack bang into who she assumes is now JP. He’s wrapped in a white sheet and is quite clearly alarmed at the anger exuded from the witch. After a moment, Lafontaine appears with a cap in hand and stops when they notice the sudden tension.  
“Oh, hey, Per. I see you’ve met Jeep,”  
“How could you do something so incredibly irresponsible, Susan?!” Perry starts but after Lafontaine visibly flinches at their given name the witch droops.  
“I’m sorry, Lafontaine,”  
“It’s fine, and I didn’t do this to make you angry, I just got so caught up in the possibility of actually helping JP, and Carmilla too. I just got carried away,” Lafontaine seems to recover from the slip-up and is now looking at the girl with apologetic eyes.  
“You know I worry about you, Lafontaine. I hate that you can just be so reckless without even thinking about the repercussions,” Perry is quieter now and Lafontaine steps forward, taking the witch’s hand in their own.  
“I’m okay, Perr. Really, it worked, everything is fine,” Lafontaine soothes and Perry is soon nodding.

  
“Miss Perry, I’m terribly sorry if my presence has upset you. It was not at all my intention,” JP starts and Perry pulls her hand away again as she looks at the new vampire.  
“I think it would be best if we go somewhere private and Carmilla can explain the details of the hex,” Perry suggests but though her tone is strained.  
“Yes, of course,” JP replies quietly.

Soon everyone is situated in one of the empty rooms and Perry is waving a hand over JP.  
“You were right, the hex is still there,” Perry says after a moment and Carmilla quietly breathes out in relief.  
“Carmilla, you said this hex puts you at a disadvantage, what exactly do you mean by that?” Perry asks and Carmilla lets out another sigh.  
“I suppose I can explain a little more now that I’m not surrounded by werewolves that look like they want to rip out my throat,”

  
Everyone watches her intently and so Carmilla continues, “Right, well, most vampires can change into an animal form. Some can turn into crows, rats, snakes, quite a lot of animals really. Will’s was a fox, and my animal form is a panther. After I tried to run away from the coven, Mother caught me and decided that if she ‘clipped my wings’ as she put it, I wouldn’t be able to disobey her again. So she put the hex on me and made it so that I can only change into my animal form the week of the full moon. I’m sure you can imagine that going from being able to change at will to being limited to a single week every month is a hell of an inconvenience.”

  
“I’m not sure what it’s like for vampires but for a werewolf, our wolf form is a huge part of who we are. I can’t even imagine having that stripped from me, I’m so sorry, Carm,” Laura speaks up and Carmilla offers her a small smile.  
“Yeah, well. I’m sure I don’t strike any of you as the type to play well with others, and I’m not a huge fan of showing weakness so this hex is definitely putting me at a disadvantage that I’m not particularly comfortable with,”

  
“I understand, I’ll do whatever I can to help you,” Perry’s tone is sincere and Carmilla offers her a look of thanks.  
“But, that being said, I’m afraid that this may be out of my depth. Lilita Morgan is a very, very powerful witch, and I’m worried that the nature of the hex she placed on you may be too strong to be removed by conventional means,”

  
“There has to be something you can do, this can’t just be irreversible. Mother would have been much too proud of herself if it was, she would have held it over me. There has to be a way to break it,” Carmilla urges and Perry looks at her with sympathetic eyes.  
“I’m afraid that the only way to break the hex would be to kill the one that placed it,”  
“You’re saying I need to kill my mother?”  
“Yes,”


	4. Dominant Tendencies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla needs to work out some more anger and the Hollis Pack gets another surprise visit.

"Well that's just fucking peachy, isn't it?" Carmilla snaps and the look of sympathy in the ginger woman's eyes is only aggravating her more.  
"Oh yeah, sure I'll just toddle over and kill my mother. You know, Lilita Morgan, only one of the most powerful witches in existence,"

"Now Carmilla, I understand that you are upset about this," Perry begins and the vampire gives her an incredulous look.  
"Upset? I'm fucking furious. I have gone through so much shit to get to this point and now you're telling me that it was all for nothing. Killing my mother is impossible, it's so far from impossible that there really isn't even a word for it," Carmilla cuts her off and stands up abruptly. She runs a hand through her hair and the thought of trashing the room in pretty damn tempting at the moment. Carmilla paces one way and then the next before she walks back over to her with an eerily calm manner before picking up her chair by the legs and inspecting it for a moment. Satisfied that the chair is sturdy enough to do some damage to the closest wall, Carmilla pulls back and gets ready to throw. Lafontaine and JP have already begun to step away and Perry is watching her with worried eyes.

"Uh, can we maybe not wreck the place this time?" Lafontaine asks but a no doubt murderous glare silences them.  
Laura speaks at the last second, "Carm."

A single word is all it takes and the vampire pauses, acutely aware of the air seemingly crackling at the alpha's order. If it were any other wolf Carmilla wouldn't give a shit, she isn't part of the pack. And yet, for whatever reason the tiny alpha holds enough power over her to stop her dead in her tracks. Carmilla knows it, Laura knows it, and now everyone else in the room does as well. The vampire sighs and puts the chair back down on the ground. Carmilla stalks over to where Laura is standing and holds out a hand.  
"Alright then, Alpha. If you don't want me to take my anger out this way, then I'm going to need that other method of yours right about now,"  
Laura regards her for a moment before taking the girl's hand and walking with her out of the room, leaving the others to look at each other in confusion.

Carmilla wastes no time more time and quickly guides them to the elevator, stabbing at the button. The elevator arrives a few moments later and the pair enter. Laura watches the girl with a concerned expression, but Carmilla can smell the wolf's arousal and wills the elevator to move faster. A ding sounds and the doors slide open, spurring the girls into motion again. Carmilla is impatient now and doesn't wait for Laura to open the door for her this time. Carmilla pulls Laura through the open doorway and kicks the door shut behind them. Carmilla prepares to tear open Laura's shirt again but a sharp intake of breath has her pausing.  
"I kind of like this shirt, maybe you could take it off the regular way?"

Carmilla simply smirks and in a blur of vampire speed, has the shirt hanging open and the buttons unharmed.  
"Close enough," Laura murmurs before closing the gap and initiating a bruising kiss. As Carmilla welcomes the kiss, she snags Laura's lip between her teeth before running her tongue across to soothe the sting. Laura responds by opening her mouth wider and swiping her tongue across Carmilla's, earning a moan. Laura runs her hands up Carmilla's sides and pushes her jacket over her shoulders and down her arms, letting it drop to the ground. Laura's hands slide back to the hem of Carmilla's shirt and she breaks the kiss to pull the shirt up and over the girl's head. Laura takes advantage of the pause and pulls in deep breaths as Carmilla presses kisses across her jawline. Carmilla pushes Laura's shirt over her shoulders and unclasps her bra before reaching behind her back and undoing her own as well. The urge to have Laura's bare skins against her own is growing by the second, so Carmilla grabs Laura by the belt loops and pulls them together, before turning and pushing Laura down onto the bed. A moan escapes from the wolf at the feeling of the vampire's body weight on top of her own and Carmilla moans in return when Laura bucks her hips up into her own. Without any further hesitation, Carmilla latches onto Laura's nipple and only moves to the other when the girl beneath her begins to writhe.

Carmilla takes advantage of her speed again and in the span of a second she has Laura's jeans and underwear on the floor. In the next second, Carmilla has her tongue working through Laura's arousal. The moans that are coming from the girl at this point are rising in pitch so Carmilla only indulges herself for a moment longer before sliding up Laura's body, nipping here and there until she reaches her mouth. Laura bites down on Carmilla's lip hard enough to draw blood when the vampire pushes two fingers into the alpha's wet heat. A growl forces it's way out of Carmilla at the taste of her own blood on her tongue and she sets an intense pace with her fingers, revelling in the sounds the girl below her is emitting. Carmilla's fangs slide down and press against her bottom lip, triggered more from her arousal than from hunger. Carmilla pulls her lips from Laura and moves down to her neck again, her fangs scrape lightly across the skin and suddenly Laura lets out a deep growl and it's as though a switch has flipped.

//

Carmilla's fangs scrape across Laura's neck and despite her arousal the alpha inside her isn't interested in being dominated by a vampire. The dominant tendencies are usually easier to control but the vampire has reduced the girl to a whimpering mess at this point so control isn't in abundance right now. The wolf kicks into motion and flips their positions, pinning the very confused, but very horny girl beneath her. In her surprise, Carmilla pulled her fingers out from inside her and a part of Laura mourns the loss but the desire for dominance drowns it out. Laura reaches down and unbuttons Carmilla's jeans before stripping both her underwear and her jeans off. With the final barrier removed Laura grinds down on the other girl and reaches down with one arm across Carmilla's chest to hold her down and with her other hand, she pushes two fingers in and mimics the pace the vampire had set previously. It's Carmilla's turn to release a string of moans at her actions but it still isn't enough to satisfy Laura's animalistic lust. Laura withdraws her fingers so quickly that Carmilla is still bucking her hips into the empty air and doesn't even have enough time to complain before the wolf flips her onto her stomach. Laura picks up the girl's hips and she seems to understand, already pushing her hips back in search of the fingers that were pleasuring her moment before. The alpha threads her fingers through Carmilla's hair and tugs her head to the side, exposing the girl's neck and earning another moan.

"Fuck, Laura please," Carmilla begs in a breathy voice and the wolf leans down along her back to bite down on her earlobe before whispering, "Don't worry, baby. I know what you need,"  
As she speaks, Laura runs her fingers through Carmilla's soaking folds, toying with her clit and causing the girl to push back against her. As Carmilla's bucking becomes more insistent Laura lines up her fingers and pushes in again, pumping harder and faster than before. Carmilla's moans are higher now and her chest is heaving with the exertion. Laura grinds her hips down and moans at the pressure on her clit, continuing to rock her hips into Carmilla's and pushing her fingers deeper into the girl. She pushes a third finger into the vampire and feels Carmilla's muscles tensing around her fingers. Laura can feel her own high building so she steps up her motions until Carmilla is moaning, "Oh fuck, I'm so close."

Laura bites her lip to hold back her next moan and leans into Carmilla's ear again.  
"You've been such a good girl, now I want you to come. Come for me, Carmilla,"  
In the next second, Laura latches down onto Carmilla's shoulder with her teeth and curls her fingers inside her. With an intake of breath and a high-pitched cry, Carmilla tumbles over the edge and after a few more thrusts, Laura does as well.

After riding out their highs, Carmilla turns to Laura with a weak smirk, "Shit, Cupcake. I didn't think you had that in you."  
"I would take the glory but a lot of that was the Alpha side of me. Your fangs came out and my wolf decided she was the more dominant one," Laura responds and Carmilla quirks a brow but doesn't say anything.  
"I give it another two minutes until some new issue comes up that you have to go fix, we seem to always get interrupted before we get to go for to a second round,"  
"I'm the alpha, I have a lot of responsibilities. Besides, it's not that bad," Laura responds but by the time she has spoken the words her phone alerts her of a new message and Carmilla sends her a knowing look.  
"You, shut up," Laura pokes a finger at her but the vampire just holds her hands up in mock surrender. Laura rolls out of bed again to grab her phone from her jeans and can feel the vampire's gaze taking over her naked form.  
"Stop checking out my ass, Karnstein,"

  
"But it's so nice," Carmilla responds in a whiny tone and slumps down on the yellow pillow. Honestly, it wouldn't be surprising if that pillow disappears during the vampire's stay at the base, she seems to have developed quite an attachment to it.  
"It figures you'd be an ass girl, given how much there is in your personality,"  
"Oh, you wound me with your cruel words, Alpha," Carmilla holds her hand over her chest and arches before falling back on the bed, apparently defeated. Laura simply raises a brow at the girl and earns a chuckle.  
"Don't pretend you don't like my ass as well, Cutie,"

  
Laura isn't going to deny it so she hums in agreement, and a smile pulls at her lips when she sees Carmilla's self-satisfied smirk. Laura finally sees the message is from Danny and makes a sound of surprise at the new information.  
"And what is it that requires the mighty alpha's presence this time?" Carmilla asks and props her head on her hand as she watches the wolf.  
"Apparently the pack is rather popular at the moment, there is another vampire at the gate," Laura responds and Carmilla sits up quickly.  
"What?"  
"Apparently, her name is Matska Belmonde. You know of her?"  
"I'd say so, she's my sister,"

  
~

  
"If this alpha of yours is willing to show up sometime this century, it would be greatly appreciated," a smooth voice says and Laura can pick up on the tension her pack is feeling at the moment as she steps outside towards the gate.  
"You don't call the shots, vampire. The alpha will be here when she wants to be, and you should be grateful you are getting an audience at all," Danny growls back and the air fills with a long mocking laugh.  
"Oh, aren't you just precious? The werewolf general trying so hard to impress, I could snap you like a twig and I wouldn't break a sweat," Matska states, and Danny puffs up to retaliate.

"Danny, that's enough," Laura commands and the wolf straightens in surprise while Matska begins to laugh again.  
"This is your alpha? She's still a child,"

  
"She's stronger than you think, Mattie," Carmilla says as she steps up beside Laura.  
"There you are, you little monster. You are not an easy girl to find," Matska addresses Carmilla but the younger vampire watches her with caution.  
"Why are you here, Mattie?"  
"Well, as long as the pound puppies don't get too upset over it, I'm here to offer my services,"

  
"Please, like we are going to trust you after what you did," Dany scoffs angrily and everyone present pauses to turn to her.  
"I'm sorry, but I'm quite sure I have no idea what you are talking about," Matska states with a tilt of her head but Laura can feel the anger rolling of off her Beta.  
"Are you kidding me? You don't even remember do you?"  
"I believe I've made myself quite clear that I have done nothing to you. It would be wise to tread lightly, wolf," Matska responds with a deadly serious look on her face. Laura can feel the rest of the pack growing anxious so she steps forward again.

"Everyone relax, Danny, cool it,"  
"Listen to your Alpha, pup," Mattie growls, having lost patience with the wolf in front of her.  
Danny turns to glare at Laura, "You don't know, do you? She's the one that slaughtered my old pack,"


	5. Appropriate Speed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mattie has a rough introduction, and Perry really needs to get a better grip on her brownies.

“What?!” The same word fell from the mouths of Laura, Carmilla, and most surprisingly, Matska and they all looked towards the furious beta.  
“Don’t even try to deny it, bloodsucker,” Danny growls but Matska’s previous anger has turned back into curiosity.  
“Oh relax, before you sprout fur. This is the first time I’ve even stepped foot on werewolf territory in over a decade, and you can bet I would own it if I slaughtered an entire pack,” Matska responds with a calm tone though her body language shows that she is still very much on the defensive side.

  
“Look, Danny, are you sure it was her?” Laura attempts to placate her but she has little effect on the tall wolf.  
“I think I’d remember the scent of the monster that killed my entire pack,”  
At the mention of the word ‘monster,’ both Matska and Carmilla stiffen and Carmilla takes a step towards Danny.  
“If Mattie says she didn’t do it, then she didn’t do it. Now, I’d strongly suggest you don’t refer to us as monsters, if you would prefer to keep your heart in your chest,” Carmilla growls as she meets Danny’s gaze. The tension in the air is palpable, and Laura steps between the two, reaching out a hand to grasp Carmilla’s. The younger vampire flicks her gaze down briefly to their joined hands, and back up to look at Laura for a moment before relaxing slightly at the contact. The action doesn’t go unnoticed by the older vampire or the beta, and both lock gazes again, almost daring the other to make a move.

  
“I don’t care what she says, Laura. I know that scent,” Danny insists and the older vampire scoffs, “I don’t even know what group of mutts you are referring to.”  
“The Lawrence Pack, 12 years ago. 56 pack members, children, elderly; all of them, dead. I found them, all of them just laying there with their throats ripped out,”  
“Lawrence, I vaguely remember meeting with their Alpha on Mother’s orders, but I didn’t kill anyone,” Mattie says and Carmilla turns to look at her sister again.

  
“What orders? Why wasn’t I told about that?” Carmilla asks, confusion clearly written in her expression.  
“You were off courting one of the targets in some no name little town, Kitty Cat. Besides, it was a business meeting, so it’s not as though you would have paid any attention if you had been there,”

  
Carmilla’s jaw tenses for a moment but she remains silent and Laura takes the opportunity to speak, “What kind of business? What did Lilita Morgan want with the Lawrence Pack?”  
“She wanted an alliance against Vordenberg and his hunters. From what I was told, the old man managed to annoy Mother just enough for her to want him dead. Mother reasoned that she would have a better chance of winning if she sided with the wolves, rather than allowing a civil war to break out if she attacked the hunters and the wolves decided to join the fray,”  
“Why the Lawrence Pack? Even if they had agreed, the Hollis Pack has always been stronger,” Laura asks after processing the new information.  
“They were closer, Mother wanted her allies to be right under her thumb, and it hardly mattered which furry pawns she had as long as she had some,”

  
“Then what happened? It doesn’t matter where in the world I was, if a war had broken out I would have been called home for it,” Carmilla asks this time.  
“The Lawrence Pack declined Mother’s offer, and as uncharacteristic as it is of Mommy Dearest, I was ordered to return home without retaliation. I don’t know what the old man did to earn Mother’s favour again, but by the time I returned home she had no ill will for him,”

  
“Bullshit, my father declined the alliance and you killed them all for it,” Danny spits out, having remained silent this long.  
“Say what you will, but I am a woman of my word. If I am telling you that I did not harm your pack, that is the truth of the matter,” Matska insists calmly and straightens her posture, eyeing Danny carefully.  
“Don’t fucking lie to me, vampire. After what you did I should have already torn out your throat,” Danny growls and her body is vibrating with fury.  
“Watch yourself, dog. I don’t take kindly to threats, especially over matters of which I didn’t even have the pleasure of doing. For the last time, I didn’t do it, but don’t think for a second that I wouldn’t be happy to finish the job and take care of the last of the Lawrence pack,”

  
That seems to be the tipping point because in the next instant Danny bares her canines and lunges at the vampire, sending them both to the ground. Movement breaks out everywhere and Kirsch seems to materialize out of nowhere as he moves to join the fight. Before he can even take another step Carmilla grabs him by the arm and pulls him back while at the same time trying to stop the fight.  
“Mattie, no!”

  
The two on the ground are a blur of motion until everything stops and through the thin layer of dust that has been kicked up Mattie appears holding Danny in front of her with her arm pinned at a painful angle behind her back. Mattie jerks up and a loud crack sounds as the wolf cries out in a mix of pain and fury.

  
“ENOUGH!” Laura commands, and everything stops. Every single wolf in the courtyard drops to the ground and bare their necks in submission to their Alpha. Even Matska stops and releases her hold, leaving the beta to drop to her knees, cradling her injured arm.  
“There will be no more fighting, or the next one to bare her teeth will be me. Am I understood?” Laura addresses her pack and receives a unanimous, ‘Yes, Alpha,’ from the wolves still on their knees.  
“Rise,” Laura orders, and they all return to their feet, and Danny to her side, before she turns her attention to Matska.

  
“The same goes for you. I don’t care what you intended to do when you came here, and I don’t care how strong you are; if you harm another one of my pack members, I will put you down. Are we clear?”  
“You really are something else, I can see now that the title of Alpha is well-deserved. Yes, Alpha Hollis, we are perfectly clear,”  
“Now that we have an understanding, you can call me Laura,”  
“Mattie, please. Matska is so formal,”  
“Alright, Mattie. So why are you here?” Laura asks, having returned to her more relaxed and cheery state.

  
“I’m here because my sister is, and because it’s no longer in my best interest to be in the service of my mother. This seems as good a place as any to hide out, hell, from the looks of it this might be one of the better places to be,”  
“You ran away from Mother? What the creeping hell happened?” Carmilla speaks again, having released Kirsch when the wolves first fell.  
“Mother tried to have me killed, or at the very least sent me on a suicide mission,”  
“Why would she do that?”  
“I don’t know, Darling. All I know is that Mother has become obsessed with talk of a Deep One, and the Seven Gates, a bunch of nonsense if you ask me. I was fine with indulging her silly little treasure hunts, but after she sent me out to the middle of nowhere, and I was attacked by the Hastur Nomads, I decided enough was enough. I heard word from some of my old contacts that you were playing house with a wolf pack, so I figured I’d come and investigate. Perhaps bust you out of trouble at the very least,”  
“Well, I’m sure you know that I didn’t part with Mother on the best of terms. I found out that one of Cupcake’s witches could help me out, so I tracked them down,”

  
Laura huffs slightly at the nickname but remains silent as Mattie appears to search the group of people gathered in the courtyard.  
“Very true, I know you also made off with Will as an anchor while you were at it. Where is the little weasel?” Mattie asks and Carmilla flinches slightly.  
“Will is dead, one of Vordenberg’s men managed to bury a stake in him,”  
“It’s no great loss I suppose, he was a fool. That must throw a wrench in the works of your hex, though, I’ve never been one for magic but I know anchors are rather important,”  
“One of the scientists here figured a way around that actually,” Carmilla responds and Mattie raise a brow in interest.  
“Do tell?”

  
“I think it would be easier to show you actually,” JP’s voice sounds from behind Carmilla and after a moment JP appears, now fully dressed and rather hesitant.  
“My name is JP Armitage, it’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance,”  
“Well, that is a surprise. Is my brother still in there with you,” Mattie cocks her head to the side as she takes in the new arrival.  
“I don’t believe so,” JP replies after a moment of deliberation. In the brief silence, a loud crunch is heard and everyone turns to see a scowling Danny, and a cringing Kirsch still grasping Danny’s arm after apparently having set it back in place.  
“If you really are telling the truth, then what the hell happened to my pack?” Danny asks and Mattie turns to her once again, though this time her expression is incredulous.  
“You really don’t know?”

  
After a quick shake of Danny’s head, Mattie continues, “After I left, Vordenberg and his army attacked and killed them all. I was already halfway home, so I couldn’t have done anything even if I had felt so inclined. Though now that I think about it, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mother had orchestrated the entire thing,”  
“All this time, and it was that old bastard that murdered my family?” Danny’s voice is quiet and Mattie looks at her in a new light.  
“I’m afraid so, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about what happened. From the brief time I spent with that pack, they seemed to be good people, even if they were wolves,”

Danny nods her head in acknowledgement before rolling her arm around experimentally.  
“Well, considering how much trouble I’ve caused already, I suppose a formal approach is the best course of action. Laura Hollis, Alpha of the Hollis pack, do you grant me sanctuary as you’ve done so for my siblings?”  
“You said so yourself that you have caused a lot of trouble already, I’m not sure if it would be in the best interest of my pack to grant you sanctuary,” Laura responds and Mattie nods in acceptance.  
“I understand,”

  
“Wait, Cupcake, I know you have your pack to worry about but she’s my sister. I know for a fact that she won’t do anything if she knows it will upset me, I can vouch for her. If you deem that she has done something to become a threat again, I’ll leave with her. You won’t have to worry about either of us causing trouble that way,” Carmilla steps forwards and reasons with the tiny alpha.  
“Carm,” Laura begins but the vampire cuts her off.  
“You can trust me on this, Laura, I swear. Besides, Mattie has been around Mother for centuries longer than I have, I’m sure she has some knowledge that could help us out,”  
“Alright, I’ll grant sanctuary, but you are to be supervised whenever you go anywhere in the base,”

  
“Thank you, Laura. You have my word that I will not do any harm to your pack,” Mattie says but Laura continues, “And, if you really do have knowledge on your Mother, and you are sworn to do no harm, then I think it’s best that Perry is the one to watch over you,”

  
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Perry shrills as all eyes fall on her as the witch huffs and it is Natalie that returns the plate of brownies that Perry had dropped to her hand this time.  
“You want me to watch over a vampire? Are you insane?” Perry asks and squeaks when the vampire in question shoots her a wink.  
“You’ll be fine, Perr. She’s not going to hurt anyone, and you never know, she might have knowledge that will help you with Carm’s hex,”  
“Oh alright, but I am not baking you cookies tonight. That’s three vampires you have sprung on me today, young lady, and I am not happy about it,” Perry states with a wave of her finger before turning on her heel to walk back inside. Before she can actually make it very far though, Mattie blurs into motion and appears in front of the woman, warranting another squeak.

  
“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of a proper introduction. I’m Matska Belmonde, but you my dear, can call me Mattie,”  
“Lola Perry, and no more of that super speed, you are going to give someone a heart attack. I’m sure you are capable of behaving like a normal person, and moving at a perfectly acceptable speed,” Perry responds and offers her hand in proper greeting. Mattie smirks at the witch and grasps her hand, “Please forgive me, I’ll be sure to behave acceptably until instructed otherwise.” The smirk only intensifies as Perry becomes increasingly flustered.  
“That’s good, that’s probably good. Would you like a brownie?”  
“Oh, I’d like many things from you, Miss Perry, but a brownie would be a lovely start,”  
The ginger woman huffs at the obvious innuendo behind the vampire’s words but gives the woman a brownie before stepping around her and walking back inside.

Everyone seems to be in awe of the display and Laura turns back to see Carmilla with an amused look on her face. The younger vampire simply shrugs at her before turning to head back inside as the excitement seems to be over for the moment.


	6. Sparring Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura goes down to help Kirsch train some younger wolves, Carmilla has other ideas, and JP gets a lesson or two.

“Honestly, how are there so many rooms in this place? It’s like it’s bigger on the inside or some shit, and it already looks pretty freaking big from the outside,” Carmilla says as she takes in the training room.  
“I’m not going to lie, I almost called the base, ‘Tardis’, but my dad was pretty convincing in his argument that maybe our pack wouldn’t be quite as intimidating if I did,” Laura responds and the vampire chuckles.  
“I’m sure you were thoroughly heartbroken, Cupcake,”  
“A little bit, yeah,”  
Before Carmilla can respond Laura’s attention is drawn to the corner of the training room, where a group of the younger werewolves, some in wolf form and others in human form, are gathered in a circle. In the middle of the circle is Kirsch in his wolf form, sitting on top of another wolf.  
“Quality teaching methods I see,” Carmilla has clearly taken in the sight as well.  
“Shut it, you,”  
The vampire smirks but remains silent as they approach the circle of wolves. Kirsch is facing the opposite direction and doing the closest thing he can to laughing in his wolf form, which is really just a strange snuffling sound, as the wolf beneath him squirms in an attempt at freedom. He’s entirely too wrapped up in his laughter to notice the sudden looks of horror on the faces his students at the appearance of their alpha.  
“Kirsch, what the hell are you teaching these kids?” Laura asks louder than necessary and fights to maintain her serious expression when Kirsch yelps in surprise and shifts back into his human form, almost tripping over the wolf on the floor that has now shifted back as well.  
“Hey there, Little Nerd. I didn’t see you there, what’s up?”  
As the beta stutters out his greeting, some of the teenagers around the circle blatantly face palm and Kirsch scowls before turning back to his alpha with a sheepish look.  
“I was just helping Kody with one of the, uh, ‘awesome’ new moves he’s been working on,”  
“By sitting on him?” Laura raises a brow and Carmilla chuckles quietly behind her.  
“Right, that was not what it looked like. I wasn’t sitting on him exactly, I was just showing him the flaw in his technique. Yeah, that sounded totally professional and stuff. D-Bear would totally say that,” Kirsch looks proud of himself and Laura nods after a moment.  
“Right, well, how about you tell me more about this ‘awesome’ move?”  
“This should be good,” Carmilla drawls and earns another glare.  
“Right, well I was just about to take the little dudes through the usual workout but I heard Kody bragging about this new move that would ‘totally work on Alpha Laura,’ so I asked him to come out and show me. He looked kinda confused at first but then he did this weird army roll thing and tried to go for my legs, which duh, totally not gonna work and I took him out. He wanted to try again as a wolf so I let him, and that’s when you bros showed up,”  
“Hate to break it to you, Beefcake, but I don’t think he was talking about a fighting move. He probably panicked and just went for the legs,” Carmilla points out and Laura looks over at Kody, who is now averting his eyes and blushing profusely.  
“Right, well. Now that we have that sorted, let’s get back to warm up drills,” Laura announces with a clap of her hands. The group of teenagers all release a collective groan but quickly disperse when Kirsch whispers something suspiciously close to, “Do it before Little Nerd gets mad.”  
“A real bright bunch you’ve got there,” Carmilla says and Laura scowls again.  
“You know, if you are going to keep complaining you can always go find something else to do,”  
“And miss my chance to see the Alpha fighting? Besides, I’ve got someone to do already,”  
Carmilla drags her eyes over her body and Laura can feel her cheeks burning.

“Ah, Miss Karnstein, there you are,”  
Carmilla turns the same time Laura does as JP approaches them.  
“What’s up, Short Stack?”  
“Well, it would seem that given the state of my body’s former owner, I’m been having some troubles of the vampiric kind. I was hoping you could perhaps give me a few lessons?” JP replies, his hands tucked at his waist either to stop his fidgeting or simply his own remembered etiquette.  
“Sure, why not? Alpha Laura is meant to be helping these guys train after all,”  
“Actually, Kirsch is fine with running the session. I’d actually really like to know more about the whole vampire thing,” Laura pipes up, probably a little too quickly.  
“Yeah, the vampire thing. It’s not at all because you secretly just want to spend more time with me,” Carmilla tilts her head with a knowing smile and Laura bites her cheek for a moment before responding.  
“Careful there, Karnstein, it almost sounds like you are projecting,”  
Carmilla simply chuckles in response before turning on her heel to give them some space from the training wolves.  
“Alright then, what do you want to learn?”  
“Well, after coming back in an entirely new body and having to learn how to use it I seem to have picked up on the heightened strength and speed fairly well. I can’t imagine space is quite suitable for pyrokinesis or teleportation, so perhaps you could teach me to change into an animal form?”  
“Someone read the Baby Vampire Handbook, huh?” Carmilla asks with an amused tone.  
“One tends to garner quite a bit of knowledge when trapped inside a computer system for over a century. I have a complete knowledge of the skills, in theory, I just don’t know how to actually use them,”  
“Fair enough, shifting it is,”  
“Excellent, let’s begin,”  
“Okay, so this whole thing is actually pretty simple. Hell, Will was an idiot but even he could do it. All you have to do is feel for your inner animal, it’s always going to be with you, you just have to find it and it’ll be easy to release. Your inner animal is what gives us strength and all shifters, vampires and otherwise hold a spiritual connection with their inner animals. At least, they should. Some aren’t always that lucky,” Carmilla explains, and Laura can easily pick up on the sadness in the other girl’s voice. She really can’t imagine what it would be like to be cut off from her inner wolf, it is quite literally a huge part of who she is.  
“I’m truly sorry about what you are going through, Miss Karnstein. I can only hope that I can be of service in helping you reconnect with what you’ve lost,” JP says and Carmilla gives him a small but genuine smile.  
“Thanks, bud. Let’s give this a go, yeah?”  
JP nods and closes his eyes before taking a deep breath. After a few seconds of deep breathing JP disappears, and in place of the dapper young man stands and large mountain lion, tail flicking contently.  
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Carmilla mutters in awe and Laura frowns.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“JP’s animal is a mountain lion, and I have no idea how that happened because Will’s was a freaking fox,” Carmilla responds and watches as JP picks up his paw to examine it before turning around in a circle to catch a look at his tail.  
“Huh, that is weird. From what you were saying about the spiritual connection shifters have with their inner animal though, maybe that had something to do with it. JP is in Will’s body, but he isn’t actually Will. Maybe his body sensed that and decided that JP isn’t meant to be a fox,” Laura suggests and Carmilla nods after a moment.  
“That actually makes a lot of sense,”  
Carmilla looks back to where JP had been and stops, “Uh, Laura? Where did JP go?”  
“What?!” Laura whips around and searches for the big cat, all the while wondering how the hell she didn’t notice that the giant mountain lion beside her had disappeared. She’s almost certain it has everything to do with the attractive vampire she had managed to catch her full attention. From behind her, Laura hears a quiet yowling and she turns to see JP play fighting with some of the wolves Kirsch is training. She breathes a sigh of relief and walks over towards them with Carmilla following close behind.  
“You really aren’t having much luck with the whole training thing today, are you, Kirsch?” Laura asks and Kirsch looks between his alpha and the mountain lion a few feet away.  
“Come on, Little Nerd. JP is a mountain lion, that’s way too cool to just ignore,”  
“I guess it is kinda cool,” Laura admits and Kirsch turns his attention to Carmilla.  
“What about you, Carmsexy? Are you gonna shift too?”  
Laura prepares for the worst but Carmilla doesn’t even flinch.  
“No need, I can kick all of your asses without my Panther,” Carmilla smirks and Laura immediately feels the energy in the room change.  
“You hear that guys? That sounds a lot like a challenge to me,” Kirsch says and the younger wolves all nod their heads and bounce around in excitement. A devilish smile spreads across Carmilla’s face and she shucks off her jacket, or Laura’s jacket really, and tosses it to the side.

Kirsch is the first to attack, going for the element of surprise before Carmilla is even in ready position. He leaps at the Carmilla and shifts midair, aiming for her torso. Carmilla just grins again and moves her arms to catch Kirsch by the sides, pivoting on her heel and using the wolf’s momentum against him to fling him back towards a few of the other wolves. Only one of them manages to step out of the way in time and the other all buckle under the sudden weight. The younger wolves all watch with slack jaws before one pulls himself together enough to actually attack. Laura realises a moment later that it is Kody as he slinks behind Carmilla while she is busy laughing at the pile of furry limbs in front of her. Kody leaps for what he thinks of an unaware target but by the time he is in the air Carmilla has spun around again to lock eyes with the wolf. The poor boy realises his mistake as Carmilla ducks down and he sails over her head, right into another wolf that was preparing to leap at Carmilla. One by one the wolves take a shot at Carmilla and are quickly and easily taken down. The entire time Carmilla is smiling, and despite the circumstances it’s the most Laura has seen the girl smile since she arrived. After a particularly cringe-worthy takedown, Laura is on the verge of covering her eyes when JP appears beside her.  
“Oh dear,”  
“Yeah, I guess I can’t complain about them not getting any training done,”  
In the process of fighting Carmilla has wandered closer to the walls and Laura isn’t sure if she has even noticed. Almost everyone has had a go by now but Laura noticed a wolf that has been hanging back. The patch of white between the shoulder blades immediately flags the wolf as Lina and she’s sure that if the wolf were to turn around she’d see a pair of mismatched eyes. Rather than go straight in for an attack, Lina maintains her distance and stalks back and forth as the watches the vampire. Lina carries her body low to the ground and Laura takes note to praise the girl later for her technique. Carmilla must take notice of the young wolf’s careful actions as well because she straightens a bit and resettles her stance. Lina finally moves to attack and she runs at Carmilla with sure steps, rapidly gaining ground. As the wolf gets closer she jumps and Carmilla smirks, clearly expecting the same result as each wolf before. Much to Laura’s surprise though, Lina falls short and judging from the controlled landing she can tell it’s intentional. Carmilla doesn’t have time to counter the change in position and Lina ducks underneath Carmilla’s outstretched arms and leaps towards the nearby wall. Before Carmilla can turn around fully, Lina has made contact with the wall and pushed back, connecting heavily with the vampire and knocking them both to the mat. A brief cheer breaks out at the that something knocked Carmilla on her ass but in the next instant, Carmilla has rolled and tossed the wolf back to the others. Carmilla rises to her feet with an impressed expression on her face.  
“That was close, pup. Nice job,”  
Lina yips in delight at the praise and Carmilla turns on her heel to glance around.  
“Anyone else wanna take a shot?”

None of the wolves step forward and Carmilla has a cocky grin plastered across her face. As she turns around again a dark of feathers appears and flies past to knock the back of Carmilla’s head. The motion causes the vampire to stiffen and flatten her hair back down from where the mystery falcon has disturbed it. The bird circling around and weaves through the air for a few moments before turning and swooping back towards the door to settle on Perry’s shoulder. Perry is startled and scowls at the falcon that has begun to groom it’s feathers.  
“Go screw yourself, Mattie,” Carmilla calls out as the flips the bird off. There’s a collective sound of realisation from quite a few people in room and Mattie simply crows and somehow manages to make the whole thing seem elegant.

Laura’s eyes briefly flick towards where Danny has been sitting across the room and visibly fuming. She looks as though she is tempted to take Carmilla up on the offer but after being taken down by one vampire already today Laura doesn’t really blame her for staying put.  
“I’ll go for a spin,” Laura announces and Carmilla raises a brow in amusement as a few more hollers break out from the onlookers. Laura can tell that Carmilla is itching to make a dirty remark but surprisingly she simply gestures with her hands for Laura to come forward. Laura has a smirk of her own on her face as she stares the vampire down. After another moment Laura blurs into action, stepping forward and faking a swing before ducking underneath Carmilla’s would-be counter attack. The vampire tries to spin to face her but Laura has already leapt into motion again and settles her legs around the girl's shoulders and throws her weight to slam Carmilla into the mat. There is a moment of silence before a chorus of cheers break out and Laura beams down at the girl she is now straddling. Carmilla recovering from having the breath knocked out of her and looks up at Laura.  
“Looks like someone beat the big, bad vampire,” Laura teases and Carmilla’s grin is filthy.  
“I don't know, sweetheart. I’d say in this position, we are both winners,” Carmilla rasps, and moves her hands up to give Laura’s thighs.  
“You don’t seem to be in too much of a hurry to get off either,” Carmilla continues and thrusts her hips up subtly. Laura has to bite her lip to stifle the sound that is likely a mix between a moan and a growl at the sudden pressure Carmilla has created. Laura barely takes notice of the fact that they are in the middle of a gym, surrounded by many of her pack members. Carmilla grinds against her once more before Laura pushes up and pulls the girl to stand with her.  
“Room, now.” Laura growls and Carmilla looks entirely too pleased with herself.  
“Are you sure you can make it that far, cutie? You seem rather eager for Round Three all of a sudden,”

Rather than responding Laura just growls again and tugs the grinning vampire out of the gym by her collar.


	7. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura and Carmilla go to lunch and Carmilla gets an unwanted visitor.

Laura doesn’t even make it halfway back up to her room before she loses patience and pushes Carmilla into one of the many storage closets located around the base. She gave it a valiant effort, she really did. Between the adrenaline from fighting, and the teasing from earlier, Carmilla would be lying if she said she minded at all.   
“I feel as though being pushed back inside the closet is rather counterproductive,” Carmilla says as she leans her head back to allow Laura access to the sensitive skin of her neck.   
“Shut up,” Laura rasps and smirks in satisfaction when the other girl falls silent at the feeling of Laura slipping a hand into the vampire’s underwear. Carmilla doesn’t miss the smirk, but she’s too busy marveling over just how skilled the alpha is with her fingers to care. Carmilla can feel Laura smiling into the skin of her neck when a stroke of her thumb has the vampire releasing a particularly loud moan. It really doesn’t take much longer for Carmilla to tighten around Laura’s fingers and she really couldn’t give a damn when it feels this good. As Carmilla is catching her breath Laura is sliding her fingers into her mouth to clean them off, but the wolf looks far from satisfied.   
“You know, as much as I’m enjoying our visits to your bedroom, I imagine mine is closer and I wouldn’t mind actually seeing it,”  
“I guess you haven’t seen it yet, have you? I didn’t realize how much has happened today,” Laura responds with a thoughtful expression.   
“I can also return the favour for you somewhere that doesn’t smell like gym equipment and werewolf,” Carmilla suggests and Laura frowns at her.  
“And what exactly is wrong with smelling like a werewolf?”   
“Nothing, nothing at all. To anyone that doesn’t have a functioning sense of smell, I’m sure you all smell lovely,” Carmilla responds sweetly and earns a slap on the arm.  
“You know, it’s really not a great idea insulting the girl you are trying to sleep with,” Laura grumbles and Carmilla fights back a smile.  
“Well, I’ve technically already gotten off, so I don’t really need to charm you anymore,”   
“Oh, right. That’s um, that’s fine I guess. I should get back to training,” Laura’s smile drops from her face and she begins to backtrack quietly, turning to walk away. Carmilla shakes her head for a second and reaches out to catch Laura’s hand, “Laura, I’m kidding. I’m not just going to use you and kick you to the curb like that. Now, please show me to my bedroom so I can make it up to you?” Carmilla’s voice is gentle and by the end of her sentence, Laura has lit up again and is dragging her off in the opposite direction.

Before long the two make it to Carmilla’s room and Laura opens the door, letting Carmilla in first as she takes notice that her meager belongings have already been placed in her room as promised when she first arrived. Carmilla notices that Laura seems almost nervous as she stands nearby and fidgets with her hands. Carmilla sits down on the edge of her bed as she watches the wolf.   
“Hey, come here,” Carmilla speaks softly and pats the tops of her thighs lightly. Laura still seems somewhat unsure but she walks over to her and lightly settles herself down so that she is straddling the vampire’s lap. Carmilla meets Laura’s gaze evenly and searches her eyes for a moment.  
“I meant what I said earlier, I’m not just going to toss you aside when I’m done with you. You aren’t just some plaything, you know that right?” Carmilla asks and Laura nods her head in with a soft smile.   
“I’m sorry if I upset you before, it wasn’t my intention,”   
“I know, Carm,” Laura responds and Carmilla feels her heart jump as Laura leans in to kiss her. Carmilla lets herself savour the feeling for a while before she speaks again.  
“Well, I do believe I promised to make it up to you,”   
Laura lets out a small giggle as Carmilla flips them and tosses up further up the bed before slinking towards her and meeting her lips again. Carmilla melts into the girl beneath her and as promised, Carmilla soon makes it up to the girl, twice, before Laura’s stomach growls and draws Carmilla’s attention to her own hunger.   
“Wanna go grab something to eat? It’s been kind of a busy day, and I haven’t actually gotten around to eating much,”   
“I could go for a bite,” Carmilla responds and the wolf glances at her teeth just long enough for the vampire to notice and smirk.  
“Relax, Cutie. I’m not going to go all creature of the night on any unsuspecting furballs,”   
“Right, of course not. But if you do need any, you know, liquid sustenance, I’m sure Perry has sorted out something with Medical so that you, Mattie, and I guess now JP, don’t go hungry,” Laura starts to ramble and Carmilla smiles before bending down to nip at Laura’s shoulder playfully with perfectly blunt teeth.   
“Take a breath, Alpha. I’m fine for blood at the moment, but I would be happy to accompany you for some regular food. We do enjoy other things besides blood, you know,”   
“Ooh, I wonder if Perry has any brownies left,”   
Carmilla can’t help the laugh that sounds when Laura visibly starts to salivate.

~

Carmilla is surprised to find that the pack’s eating area was really just a huge kitchen attached to an even bigger mess hall. Given that it was late afternoon Carmilla wasn’t really surprised to find that there weren’t many people in the mess hall but she did spot Kirsch and his training group all shoving each other around. Carmilla caught sight of the one of the girl’s and recognised the blue and green eyed gaze of the wolf that had almost managed to take her down during their sparring session. Carmilla smiles and nods at the wolf and receives a huge grin in return. Standing nearby the girl was the knucklehead that was fighting, or trying to, when they had first arrived. Carmilla vaguely remembers the name, Kody, and notices that he is glaring at the girl. After a moment he glances over and when he makes eye contact Carmilla grins and flashes her fangs, causing the boy to yelp and look away. Carmilla chuckles to herself and turns to see Laura looking at her with a raised eyebrow and she sends her a cheeky grin. The alpha just shakes her head at the vampire and gestures for her to follow her to a small lineup of people. As Laura approaches each of the wolves bow their heads and make space for their alpha to cut in and grab a plate for Carmilla and herself Carmilla can’t help but be fascinated by the inner workings of werewolf hierarchy, even if it is something as subtle as letting them cut in front for a meal. It doesn’t take very long for them to fill their plates and they settle in at a table with Kirsch and the younger wolves. Laura introduces Carmilla to the wolf with the mismatched eyes and she finds out that her name is actually Lina, and that she is rather good at holding an intellectual conversation. Laura sees that Kody won’t look Carmilla in the eye and forces her to apologise to the boy so that he can finish eating his meal without almost choking every time Carmilla looks in his direction.

~  
 _“Come on, Slowpoke. The snow will melt at this rate,” Laura taunts as she bounds through the snow that is just a little too deep to move effectively._  
 _“Yeah, yeah. I’m getting there,” Carmilla tries to sound annoyed but the sight of Laura giggling as she grabs at passing snowflakes has a dopey smile stretched across her face._  
 _“Looks like the scary vampire isn’t so tough after all,” Laura teases and lobs a snowball at her. The vampire dodges easily but bends down to scoop up a handful of snow._  
 _“Oh, it’s on, Hollis,”_  
 _Laura squeals as she sucks to avoid the offending snowball, and despite her best efforts Carmilla soon cops a snowball to the face._

_Carmilla is busy wiping the snow from her face when her body registers a chill that is drastically different from the snow surrounding them. Carmilla opens her eyes and watches as the icy landscape turns black and the sun that was shining only moments ago dims._   
_“Laura?” Carmilla calls out and is met only by an eery echo._

_“Laura Hollis, what a peculiar thing to be dreaming about, darling,”_  
 _Carmilla’s blood run cold and she spins to see her mother standing behind her, with Laura at her side. “She is a pretty thing, I’ll give you that,” Lilita continues as she strokes a hand down Laura’s cheek._  
 _“What do you want, Mother?” Carmilla can feel her chest tightening but she knows that fighting isn’t going to do anything. Her mother may actually be here, but it is still a dream. If she wasn’t so utterly terrified, she’d probably find solace in that fact that this means her mother can’t do anything to her either._  
 _“Must you always be so blunt, dear? Is it so farfetched that I might simply miss my darling daughter?” Lilita sounds hurt but her eyes are cold._  
 _“The same daughter that you hexed because she tried to get away from you and your sick games?”_  
 _“Are you still upset about that? You know I’m only doing what’s best for you. You’ll understand one day,” Lilita laughs but it’s empty and it only makes Carmilla angrier._  
 _“You really think I’m ever going to understand why you killed the only girl I’ve ever loved?”_  
 _“Oh please, she never loved you. If you could only see how quickly that wretched creature turned on you when she found out what you are. She was_ delicious _though, I can see why you were so infatuated with her,”_  
 _Carmilla clenches her jaw at her mother’s words when she stops and after a moment, a cruel smile appears on her face._  
 _“Come to think of it, this is a perfect opportunity to show you exactly what I mean. I’ll even be able to borrow your new little plaything to help me,” Lilita waves her hand in front of Laura and she changes into the girl that Carmilla had tried so hard to forget. Carmilla tears her eyes away from Ell’s face to take in the space around them, she’d recognize Ell’s old bedroom any day._  
 _One moment Ell is standing in front of her and staring at her with pleading eyes and the next she is sleeping soundly in bed and Lilita has disappeared. Carmilla tries to move to the figure on the bed but her body refuses to respond. Panic begins to build within the vampire as a knock on the door sounds and_ rouses _Ell from her sleep. The girl moves to the door and opens it to find Lilita standing in the doorway._  
 _“Oh, Ms Morgan. Carmilla’s not here,” Ell says quietly and Lilita chuckles slightly._  
 _“Oh I’m not here for my daughter, darling,”_  
 _With that Lilita pushes past and Ell closes the door before turning towards the woman._  
 _“Oh, okay. What do you need?”_ Ell _asks and Lilita fixes her with a predatory gaze._  
 _“I’m here to see you, isn’t it obvious?”_  
 _“But why, it’s the middle of the night?”_  
 _Lilita walks closer to the girl and reaches a hand up to stroke her cheek, Ell looks confused but she doesn’t step away._  
 _“Are you afraid of me, child?” Lilita asks and uses her other hand to grab at the girl’s waist. Ell swallows with wide eyes but shakes her head._  
 _“Good,” Lilita all but whispers and Carmilla can feel bile rising in her stomach at the sight of her mother pulling the girl she loved close and kissing her. The thing that truly crushed her is that Ell welcomes the advance and begins to kiss her back with more passion than she had ever shown for the vampire. Carmilla manages to force her eyes away when Lilita moves the girl back to her bed. Carmilla wills herself to block it out but hearing her mother speak again forces her eyes open._  
 _“As entertaining as this has been, I have something I need to show you,” Lilita says and pushes Ell back down when she tries to reconnect their lips. Lilita waves a hand and an image appears in the empty air in front of them. A fresh wave of nausea rolls through Carmilla when she realises what her mother is showing Ell is of her first feeding session as a vampire. The horror she is feeling is mirrored on Ell’s face as she watches Carmilla tear through a girl’s throat with her fangs in an attempt to drink as much blood as she can. Carmilla almost doesn’t even recognize the feral look in her past self’s eyes as a wicked grin crosses her blood stained face and moves on to the next girl, tearing into her as well._  
 _“You see, you foolish creature. You’ve fallen in love with a monster,” Lilita says as simply before sweeping out of the room with a satisfied look on her face, not even sparing another glance at the girl now shaking on her bed._  
 _“Enough, please,” Carmilla begs in a shaking voice and in an instant it all disappears and Lilita and Laura are once again standing in front of her._  
 _“That wretched creature really wasn’t worth your attention,” Lilita states and Carmilla closes her eyes again willing away the images she knows are now permanently embedded in her mind._  
 _“Now that I’ve had my fun, perhaps you like to tell me how my children are doing. It’s been quite some time since I’ve heard from any of them,”_  
 _“That’s what you are really doing here? God, even when we run away from you, you still can’t let us go,” Carmilla’s anger has returned and she glares at the woman in front of her._  
 _“You didn’t answer my question, dear,”_  
 _“Will’s dead, Mattie’s abandoned you, and I want nothing to do with you. Does that answer your question, Mother?” Carmilla questions and Lilita’s mouth tightens into a thin line for a moment._  
 _“Well, I can’t say that William’s death is_ surprising, _though I am surprised to find that you truly believe Matska would abandon me,”_  
 _“Running away and throwing in her chips with me sure does sound like abandoning, but that’s just me,”_  
 _“Oh, my glittering girl, who do you think sent her to find you in the first place?” Lilita asks in a condescending tone and Carmilla’s smirk falters._  
 _“You’re lying,”_  
 _“Am I?”_  
 _“You have to be lying,”_  
 _“Hmm, we shall see then, won’t we? I’ll be seeing you again soon, Carmilla,”_

Carmilla shoots up in her bed and blurs to the bathroom, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet before slumping against the wall and trying to steady her breathing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got a little darker than I thought it would when I first started, but hey. I hope you all enjoy. Comments would be greatly appreciated.


	8. The Full Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla confronts Mattie, Laura learns a little bit of Carmilla's tragic backstory, and the pack celebrates the full moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to update, I suck.

“Tell me it isn’t true!”   
To her credit, Mattie seems genuinely puzzled at the sudden outburst but she sobers up at the look on her sister’s face.  
“You’ll have to be more specific, I’m afraid,” Mattie replies smoothly and Carmilla stops and takes a breath to steady herself.   
“Tell me you aren’t here on Mother’s orders,” Carmilla demands, and everyone in the room shifts uncomfortably. The angry vampire had burst into the cafeteria with fire in her eyes and had hardly taken notice of the others in the room before catching sight of her sister seated in the corner of the room. She vaguely registered pushing past some wolves that had murmured something about Alpha Laura before scurrying away.   
“Are you insane? I told you what happened the last time I followed that woman’s orders,” Mattie asks but there is an uncertainty in her eyes that only make Carmilla angrier.

“Three centuries, Mattie. We’ve been sisters for three centuries, don’t you dare lie to me,” Carmilla grabs Mattie by the throat and slams her against the closest wall with enough force for tiny cracks to appear around.  
“And in three centuries, when have I ever lied to you about something as serious as Mother?” Mattie’s response holds a high degree of bite but she does have a point.   
“Look, I don’t know what happened to make you doubt me, but whatever it is you have to know that Mother is toying with you. Just like she always has. Honestly, do you really think that if her two most powerful assets were to abandon her, she wouldn’t do everything she could to turn them against one another?”   
Carmilla’s grip loosens for a second as she considers the words, but her mother’s words and malicious grin flash through her mind again and she reapplies her previous pressure and pushes Mattie harder into the wall.   
“Carmilla,”   
Honestly, Carmilla is not surprised to hear the Alpha’s voice. At this point, she seems to be more prominent in Carmilla’s decision making than her damn conscience.  
“Yes?” Carmilla doesn't take her eyes off of Mattie but she can sense Laura moving closer to her.   
“Let her go. Please,” Laura’s voice is gentle, but Carmilla is surprised to find that she isn't using her Alpha dominance.   
“You don't know what she is capable of, Laura. You don't know what either of us are capable of. How do you know you can trust her?”   
“I trust you. Besides, it’s only fair that I give her the benefit of the doubt, I did the same for you, didn’t I?”   
Carmilla turns to look at Laura and meets her gaze for a moment before releasing a breath and letting go of Mattie. Carmilla remains silent as she walks out, ignoring the hushed whispers from those still in the room.   
“Carm, wait,” Laura calls out and against her better judgement, Carmilla stops in place and fidgets for a moment while she catches up.  
“Relax, I’m not going to break anything, alright?” Carmilla snaps and starts walking again with Laura keeping pace.   
“I’m not worried about you breaking anything, I’m worried about you,”  
Carmilla huffs in acknowledgement but continues walking aimlessly.  
“Do you even know where you are going?”   
“I would assume somewhere, I’m hoping it’ll be quiet,”  
Laura huffs and grabs Carmilla’s arm, pulling her to a stop.   
“Fine, follow me then,”   
Carmilla does as she’s told but maintains her bad mood and soon enough they are in a part of the base that Carmilla hasn't seen yet. Laura pushed about some double doors and Carmilla walks in behind her.  
“Look, Cupcake. I’m not really in the mood to mess around right now. I’m sure if you really need the help, that ginger bodyguard of yours will be happy to step up to the plate,”   
“That’s not why I brought you here, and besides, Danny is dating Kirsch,” Laura replies with a scrunched up face and gestures around her.   
“This is the quietest place in the base, and I thought you might like it here,”

Carmilla looks around for the first time and notices the rows upon rows of bookshelves, sighing quietly as she breathes in the scent of old books.   
“How did you know I like books?” Carmilla asks and Laura shrugs in response.  
“I didn’t, but I did remember smelling some old books amongst your things in your room. I figured it was a safe bet,”   
Laura watches as Carmilla takes in the room around her but after a moment of silence she speaks again.   
“So, do you wanna talk about what happened back there?”   
“No, not particularly, but I will,” Carmilla sighs and leans back against one of the tables in the room. Laura gives her a soft smile and walks over, lifting herself to sit on the table beside her.   
“My mother is very old, and very powerful, which I’m sure you already know. I’ve been under her thumb for the uglier part of three centuries, and in that time I’ve seen her do something spectacularly horrible things but, for the most part, she’s always treated her children well. I was always her glittering girl, her little Kaiserin. In her eyes, I could do no wrong; until I did. I fell in love, and she didn’t like that very much. Mother thought it was beneath me to fall in love with a human, nothing more than a cockroach to her. Mother believes that a human is only as useful as the blood running through their veins, a food source. So when I fell in love with a human and tried to escape with her, Mother took it upon herself to shatter any chance of that and revealed what I was to Ell in the most horrifying way before she punished me,” Carmilla stops for a moment as another wave of nausea rolled over her at the memory of what she had seen.   
“Is that when she hexed your panther?” Laura asks quietly and a bitter smile works onto Carmilla’s face.  
“No, actually, that came later. For my punishment, Maman locked me in a coffin of blood and buried me in the ground so that I might waste away long decades in the dark. When I was finally granted forgiveness and released from the coffin the world around me was different, and I focused my energy on discovering just how time had changed the world, and on not angering my mother. I was doing so well until I realised that I wasn’t truly happy and that I wouldn’t ever be as long as I was still under my mother’s control. So, with nothing holding me in place, I made a break for it once again, but I was caught. Mother decided that the coffin wouldn’t be effective this time around, but she didn’t have the heart to kill me. So instead, she hexed me and stole my panther from me, she used one of the few people I couldn’t stand as an anchor, and she let me go. I spent months trying to find something that could break the hex until I heard that a witch in the Hollis Pack could help. I tracked the pack down, and I guess you know the rest,”   
“That sounds awful, but it doesn’t explain why you were on the warpath with Mattie,” Laura says and Carmilla sighs again before continuing.  
“As I said, my mother is very powerful, and one of her favourite tricks is to invade a person’s dreams. Once she does that, she can control the dream however she likes. She entered my dream tonight to find information, which she did. She knows I’m allied with the Hollis Pack, she knows Will is dead, and she knows Mattie is here as well. I refused to play her game, and so Mother decided to play another game instead. Until now, I’d only known that Mother had done something terrible to Ell, but I didn’t know what. I know now, and it’s so much worse than I possibly could have imagined. In the moment, I showed weakness, and Mother exploited that. She told me that Mattie was here on her orders, and I believed her. Hell, I think I still do. It doesn’t matter that I know Mattie wouldn't betray me like that, the thought is there now, and I have no idea who to believe,”   
“I’m so sorry, Carm. I can’t even imagine what that must be like for you,” Laura looks at her with sincerity and reaches down to grab her hand. Carmilla tenses for a moment but turns her hand and laces their fingers together. Carmilla notices the presence in the doorway the same time Laura does and they both turn to face Kirsch.   
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have something to report,” Kirsch says and Laura straightens up before sliding off the table.   
“What is it?”   
“Our scouts have picked up on a recent growth in Hunter activity. Vordenberg and his guys having been moving a lot closer to the base, and they’ve been moving a lot more often,”   
“Scout Reports, why isn’t Danny here to tell me this?” Laura asks and Kirsch’s eyes immediately flick to Carmilla.   
“D-Bear doesn’t really like Vamp-Bro, so she sent me instead,” Kirsch looks apologetic and Carmilla simply rolls her eyes at the implication.   
“Your job is to handle Training, and Danny’s is to handle the Scouts. You can tell her that I don’t care if she doesn’t like who I’ve been spending time with, she needs to be responsible enough to do her job regardless of the circumstance,” Laura says and Kirsch straightens at her tone.  
“Yes, Alpha,”   
“Thank you for coming to tell me anyway, Kirsch. Is everything ready for the celebrations tonight?” Laura asks and Kirsch visibly relaxes.   
“Yeah, everything is sorted. I convinced Perry to let us wrap the goat in bacon this month,” Kirsch replies in excitement and Laura smiles, “Sounds good,”   
“It will be, now that I think about it though, I’m supposed to be helping out with that right now. Bye, guys,” Kirsch waves as he bounds out of the room and Carmilla turns to look at Laura.  
“What was that about?”   
“Oh, it’s this thing that the pack does every month to celebrate the week of the full moon,”   
“It’s the week of the full moon,” Carmilla states and she can feel the nervous energy of her panther coming to the surface.  
“Mmhm,” Laura hums, unaware of the reason behind Carmilla’s excitement.  
“That means that I can change into my panther,” Carmilla is almost giddy with the sudden happiness and after a moment Laura catches on and both sport huge smiles on their face.  
“When’s the celebration, is it tonight? It would make sense if it was tonight. Is there a special place you guys have it, or is it just in the courtyard? It seems like the sort of thing that would have a special place,” Carmilla begins to ramble and Laura laughs at her.  
“Relax, Carm. The celebration will start in a few hours,” Laura tries to placate her but Carmilla is too far gone in her excitement.   
~  
“Alright, I’ve got to hand it to Kirsch, wrapping the goat in bacon was a brilliant idea,” Laura admits after finishing her fourth plate of food. The girl really is lucky that werewolves burn so much energy because the amount of food Carmilla has seen her consume just while she’s been at the base is truly alarming.  
“Well, he has to have a few good ideas at some point. Would you like fifths, Cupcake?”   
“I want to say yes, but if I eat more my wolf will get all bloated when I change later, and no one wants a cranky, bloated wolf,” Even as Laura is speaking she is eying off the chocolate cake on the table nearby but she soon looks away and leans back in her chair.  
“Oh, so four servings is the lucky number then?” Carmilla teases and Laura socks her in the arm.   
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I mock you for how much goat you ate earlier?”   
“Hey, my panther was hungry. Do you really want a cranky, hungry panther on you case?”   
“I’m sorry, but all I’ve been able to picture since you told me about your animal form is a giant, black grumpy cat, so anything is an improvement really,”   
Laura is the one to get socked in the shoulder this time but before Laura can respond, Carmilla notices that the wolves are starting to gather together in the nearby field.  
“Is it go time?” Carmilla asks, her childlike excitement from earlier returning in full force.   
“Sure is,”   
As Laura says the words a few of the wolves begin to shift and soon there are balls of fur weaving around the place and Laura stands up from her seat, throwing Carmilla a grin before shifting. The sight of Laura’s wolf form stops Carmilla in her tracks as she takes in the golden fur and dark undertones, as Laura turns to face her she catches sight of the familiar eyes and gets up out of her seat as well. Carmilla is just about to change when a tiny alarm bell goes off in her head and she turns to see an extremely fluffy wolf leaping at her. Carmilla turns on her heel and snatches Kody out of the air before dropping him onto the grass and smirking down at him.  
“Dammit, I almost had you that time,” Kody whines after shifting back into his human form and Carmilla smirks at him. It both confuses and entertains her that while Kody keeps his appearance neat and well trimmed, he has one of the fluffiest wolf forms she has ever seen.  
“Sure you did, Fluffball. Better luck next time,”   
Without turning, Carmilla calls over her shoulder at the wolf she can tell in about to pounce on her too, “Don’t even think about it, Spot,”   
Sure enough, when Carmilla turns around she sees Lina sitting nearby, doing her very best to pout in wolf form. Carmilla sees Laura sitting nearby and watching with an amused tilt of her head. Carmilla shakes her head in equal amusement and for the first time in a very long month, she shifts into her panther form. All of the excitement and nervous energy floods her body and she just sits for a moment with her eyes closed, savouring the feel of the grass beneath her paws. Carmilla opens her eyes when she feels a slight tugging at her ear and she looks up to see a mass of golden fur as Laura nips at her ear again. Once she sees that she has the panther’s attention, Laura throws her head to gesture for Laura to follow her. Carmilla gets to her feet once more and stretches before returning to her full height and taking great pleasure in the fact that she is still an inch or two taller than Laura. Laura seems to notice as well and huffs in annoyance before she turns back and nips at Carmilla’s ear, which is apparently something she quite likes doing to get the vampire’s attention. Then again, she should be glad that Laura hasn’t tried to bite her tail yet, but after a moment, she leans forward and catches Laura’s tail between her teeth. Laura jumps a little bit at the surprise contact and turns to lean her body weight on Carmilla. She’s actually a little heavier than Carmilla had expected and now Carmilla understands where all of that food goes.   
Carmilla notices that the other wolves are sitting together and waiting for their Alpha to join them. Laura must realise as well because she nudges Carmilla’s neck with her head and walks over to the other wolves. As she joins them and sits between Kirsch and a brilliantly coloured ginger wolf that can only be Danny, there is a sudden silence for a moment before Laura leans her head back and lets out a howl. The alpha’s howl rings out for a few moments before the rest of the pack begins to join in. The sound of the entire pack united is something that Carmilla doesn’t think she’ll ever forget, and it’s not something she would ever want to. As she watches Carmilla feels a presence beside her and she turns to see a mountain lion with a falcon perched on his back. After a moment JP joins in the unified sound and lets out a yowl, followed by a cry or two from Mattie. Carmilla takes in the scene before her and lets the memory settle in before she too tilts her head slightly and lets out a roar of her own.


	9. Visual Methods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perry comes up with an idea, and Carmilla bites off more than she can chew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry I've been so slow on the updates, I've just been super busy, and when I'm not busy, I've been super lazy. I hope you guys enjoy anyway, and I'm just warning you that it gets pretty dark in this one. I think I just really have too much fun when I write Lilita, because she does some truly awful things, but it's so much fun to get into that headspace.

“Carmilla, dear, can I talk to you for a moment?”  
Carmilla raises a brow at the witch but nods and Perry gestures for them to leave the training room. Carmilla had been spending quite a lot of time there as of late, mostly because of the fact that the full moon celebration had brought her closer to the pack in a way. She actually rather enjoyed being around them, but if anyone accused her of having such sentimental feelings they would promptly get their ass handed to them. A few of the wolves watched as Perry and Carmilla left the room, but they quickly lost interest and went back to the training at hand. Laura was in the middle of sparring with Kirsch, so it wouldn’t be surprising if she didn’t notice their sudden departure. Carmilla was surprised though that Mattie was nowhere in sight, Laura had allowed her a little more freedom around the base but she seemed to have taken a liking to the witch that had been saddled with watching her.   
“So what’s up, Glinda?”   
Perry’s lips purse in annoyance at the nickname.  
“I saw what happened in the cafeteria the other day, and Mattie told me that Lilita is skilled at invading dreams,” Perry begins evenly but Carmilla immediately sours at the mention of her mother.  
“What’s your point? I’d rather not recall what happened if I can help it,”  
“I’d just like to say that it is not my intention to cause you discomfort, Carmilla, but there may be a way I can use what happened to our advantage,”   
“How exactly do you propose to do that?”   
“Well, Dream Magic is a very specific type of magic, and while it isn’t commonly practiced, it is very easy to pinpoint and channel. There’s a good chance that I will be able to pick up on the residue of the spell Lilita used and channel it to turn the spell around,” Perry explains and Carmilla ponders the new information.  
“So because Mother used this spell on me, you can make it turn around and bite her on the ass? I’ll be able to see inside her head this time?”   
“Essentially, yes. I can’t guarantee it will work, but there is a chance that you could find out what she may be planning next. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you the magnitude of the advantage that would give the pack,”  
“I can imagine, but I can also imagine that Mother wouldn’t be too happy when she finds out what’s happening,” Carmilla says pointedly and Perry seems to be debating with herself for a moment.   
“There’s something else you should know. If your mother does find out what you are doing, because we are highjacking her own spell so to speak, she may be able to take control of her dream once again. If that does happen, it won’t be as simple as just waking up out of the dream, it may take some time for me to pull you back out. While she won’t be able to physically harm you, there’s no telling what she might do before I can do that,” Perry warns after coming to a decision.   
“That woman has done some spectacularly monstrous things to me already. I can handle whatever she wants to throw at me, especially if the physical side is off the table,” Carmilla responds and clenches her jaw, pushing back the memories of the awful things her mother has deemed as punishment over the centuries. She still has a few scars that even her vampiric healing hasn’t been able to touch, so that really says something about the witch’s particular brand of tough love.   
“If you are in fact willing to try this then I need to make a few preparations beforehand. Your room would probably be the most comfortable place to do this, so if you’d like you can go ahead and wait for me there,”  
“Should we go tell Miss Alpha about this?” Carmilla asks and Perry looks conflicted.  
“Laura’s been under a lot of pressure lately, I think it might be best if we leave her for the moment. She’s always been happiest when she’s training with her wolves,”   
“I can’t imagine the sudden influx of vampiric activity has really helped with her stress levels,” Carmilla comments after sneaking a glance back in through the training room window and watching Laura bounce around happily.  
“I don’t think you quite realize the effect you have on our Alpha, Carmilla. I don’t know what it is but she’s changed while you’ve been here. There certainly is a lot more on her plate, but when she’s with you, I don’t know, she just seems lighter. There’s a lot more to Laura than just what she shows to others,”  
“She’s definitely not like anyone else I’ve ever met,” Carmilla agrees and steels herself after a moment before continuing, “Alright, if you think that’s for the best that we don’t tell her, then let’s get this over and done with before she notices I’m missing,”   
“This is going to take quite some time, Carmilla. It’s not a simple task. I have no doubt that the Alpha will notice your absence, I’m just hoping she isn’t going to be dead-set on seeking you out until we’ve finished what needs to be done. Even if Laura doesn’t interfere, we still have to take into account that Lilita needs to be asleep for this to work and this may turn into a waiting game before anything else,”   
“I think we both know that if Laura wants to find something, she will. Besides, I wouldn’t worry too much about waiting, we’re already past Mother’s bedtime. Like most evil creatures of the night, she likes to sleep during the afternoon. That’s also why it’s so easy for her to get into my dreams, even before I arrived here I’d been stuck on a human sleep schedule. So like I said, let’s get this over with. If I don’t get my regular amount of beauty sleep I’m not going to be very pleasant to be around,”

~

“Try to relax, Carmilla. Once you get in, you should be able to figure out the rest on your own. Remember that she can’t physically hurt you, and I’ll be here to pull you out if anything goes wrong,” Perry says and Carmilla nods her head before closing her eyes and settling in on her bed. Perry begins to chant in a soft voice but slowly drifts out before disappearing completely and giving way to that all too familiar darkness that Carmilla has come to associate with her mother. The darkness seems to seep into her skin, sending shivers through her body and urging her to move to get away from the tendrils that have begun to tug at her limbs and clothing. She has no idea where she should be going but moving is without a doubt the best option because there is a heavy presence around her that has joined the tendrils.

As quickly as the darkness had appeared, it vanished again and she found herself standing in the middle of a field that had become a fond memory after the full moon celebration and Carmilla feels dread set in.   
“Foolish child, did you really think I wouldn’t have expected you to visit me? I’ve been counting on it because now I get to play with your mind to a whole new extent, and you can’t simply wake up to escape me,” Lilita’s voice echoes around her before she appears a few feet in front of the girl.  
“You see, Darling, now that you’ve tried to worm your way into mine, I’m able to return the favour. I can access delightful little memories that I’ve never seen before, like this field, or like your sweetheart’s bedroom. You certainly did work quickly to bed that little wolf of yours, didn’t you?”   
Carmilla’s stomach rolls when her surroundings change once again and she sees Laura completely naked on her bed, exactly how her memory recalls from their earlier intimate activities.   
“She really is a pretty little thing, isn’t she?” Lilita teases as she stalks over to Laura’s bed and settles herself beside the girl that is watching her with a lustful gaze that Carmilla herself had already received. Carmilla already knows she can’t move an inch to stop her mother but every fibre of her being screams at her to stop this.   
“Don’t touch her,” Carmilla chokes out, tears welling in her eyes at the feeling of once again being helpless to stop her mother.  
“Oh, but I’d very much like to touch,” Lilita replies and runs a hand from Laura’s cheek, down through the valley of her breasts and down her smooth stomach. Laura releases a familiar moan and Lilita stops just shy of the girl’s hip, instead laying a hand flat against her skin.   
“I’ll kill you, I swear to God, I will,” Carmilla’s voice wavers but her fury behind her statement gives Lilita pause. She turns to look at Carmilla and laughs,” Oh, Darling, there’s no way for you to fight, and nothing to fight with,”   
“I don’t care,”  
“Hm, I can see that reason isn’t going to break through those silly little ideas of yours, so perhaps a more visual method will get through to you,” Lilita says and glance back down at her hand still resting on Laura’s stomach. With a wicked smile, Lilita flicks her wrist and opens a large gash across the bare skin, earning an earsplitting scream to erupt from the wolf. The motion was so quick it launched a spray of blood into the air and Carmilla squeezes her eyes shut as it lands on her face. When the scream finally dies out Carmilla opens her eyes again to find that they are back in the field, but this time, the space around them is littered with bodies. Each one bloody and broken, each one wearing the faces of those Carmilla has come to know in her time with the Hollis Pack. Kirsch, Danny, Kody, Lina, the rest of the wolves, young and old, and the witches as well. Amongst the mass of bodies Carmilla spots JP’s lifeless form, and beside him, she sees a mess of red hair and a blood splattered lab coat. Everyone in the base lay mangled in space she had so recently spent a celebration in. Carmilla falls to her knees and feels the blood coating the ground seep through her jeans and cling to her skin as Lilita appears in front of her again. Laura is at her feet and is attempting to cover the open wound on her stomach when Lilita smiles widely at Carmilla, “You see, Darling. If you try and fight me, I’m going to lay waste to each and every soul you see here. I’m going to take them all away from you, and I’m going to smile while I do it.” As she finishes her sentence Lilita lifts a foot at places it down on Laura’s throat. The sickening crack that sounds is enough to make Carmilla look away before bowing her head and refusing to open her eyes.

“Carmilla, come back to me, please. You need to come back,”   
With a gasp, Carmilla springs up and realizes that she’s back in her room.   
“Oh, thank God,” Laura explains and wraps her arms around Carmilla. Perry slumps down on the bed but everything Carmilla had just seen is playing on a loop.   
“Don’t ever do something like that again, you stupid vampire. I’ve been holding onto you for the last six hours, you have no idea how worried I was,” Laura tries to sound angry but it’s hard when she’s mumbling her words into Carmilla’s hair and the vampire wraps her arms around her waist and holds her tight.  
“You’re okay,” Carmilla whispers against Laura’s shoulder in a small, broken voice and Laura pulls her closer.  
“Of course I’m okay, you’re the one that’s had me worried sick,” Laura replies but Carmilla doesn’t pull away to look at her, she simply breathes in her scent and murmurs again, “You’re okay,”   
“What happened, Carmilla?” Laura asks gently and Carmilla shakes her head before finally pulling back, eyes red and cheeks wet.  
‘I lost you, I lost everyone,” Carmilla croaks and Laura’s gaze softens.  
“I’m right here, Carm. I’m fine, and everyone else is fine, too,”   
“She knew I was coming, and she used my own mind against me. My memories, my emotions, she used it all against me. I couldn’t do a thing to stop it,” Carmilla feels a fresh wave of pain roll through her and she leans into Laura again.  
“I’ve got you, okay. You’re safe,” Laura runs her hand through Carmilla’s hair and after a while she feels the vampire relax against her. Laura pulls Carmilla into her arms and a little tighter and leans back, laying the two of them down on the bed and she continues to run her hand through the girl’s hair. Perry rises to her feet and after sharing a look with Laura she walks on shaky legs out of the room and leaves the two of them alone.  
“I’ll keep you safe, Carm. I promise,”

 


	10. Unwelcome Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla receives a package, and Laura takes a moment for herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late again, I'm sorry. Hopefully I can get my updating back to normal soon.

 

There’s something to be said about the confusion one feels when waking up pressed against a warm body with a face full of hair. Especially when one has been waking up alone for a significant amount of time. So to say Carmilla is surprised when she opens her eyes, retracts the honey blonde hair that most definitely does not belong to her and sees that she is pressed against Laura. Fully clothed, but pressed against her none the less. That’s not to say that she isn't greatly enjoying this, she’s just extremely confused at the current situation. Carmilla continues to stare at Laura’s sleeping form as she ponders this, in what would be an admittedly creepy fascination for any outside party. To be fair though, it’s not like Carmilla has a great deal of space to ponder. There is a reason Carmilla woke up so close to Laura. The wolf in question has her arms wrapped tightly around the vampire and even if she wanted to, Carmilla doubts she could move out of the grip without waking the girl up. 

 

“You know, one could argue that all the staring you are doing right now is Edward Cullen levels of creepy,” Laura mumbles sleepily without opening her eyes and Carmilla is proud of herself for not jumping in surprise, tensing maybe, but certainly nothing embarrassing. 

“One could argue that I don't give a damn,” 

 

Laura chuckles quietly at Carmilla’s response and she stretches her body for a moment but her arms don’t lessen their grip at all. 

“Don’t worry, you’re cuter than Robert Pattinson anyway,” Laura mumbles after opening her eyes and looking down at Carmilla as she huffs indignantly. 

“Of course I’m cuter than that sparkly twerp, have you seen this jawline?” 

 

Laura brings a hand up to run it across Carmilla’s jawline gently, “Yes, it’s one of the first things I noticed about you,” 

Carmilla’s breath catches slightly at the contact as Laura continues to caress her face. 

“After I noticed how much of a pain in the ass you are,” Laura adds and instead of stoking her jaw she pinches Carmilla’s cheek playfully. Carmilla grumbles and forces Laura’s hand away by leaning into the wolf’s side again. 

“You’re an ass,” 

“I haven’t heard any complaints about my ass, thank you very much,” 

“I’d have to be an idiot to complain about that. I’m perfectly comfortable with accepting my vanity, but you’ve got mine beat by a longshot. I really don’t know how you manage to stay in shape, I’ve seen how much you can eat,” Carmilla takes on an oddly serious tone. 

“Werewolf metabolism, and also really good genes, according to my dad anyway,” Laura shrugs.

“I’ll be sure to thank your parents for that one if I ever meet them,” Carmilla comments and Laura stops her chews her lip for a moment. 

 

“I mean, I guess with all this excitement my dad might come and check on the pack. Which really means that he’ll come and check on me to make sure that I’m not butchering this Alpha gig he handed down to me, so you might meet him then. I’m pretty sure I’d get overthrown as Alpha before you ever met my mom though,” Laura says and Carmilla frowns.

“Why would it be believable that I’d meet your dad but not your mom?” 

“Because she left when I was 2, and I haven’t heard from her since. It was right after my dad became Alpha, one day she just packed her things and left. It wrecked my dad, but he had the pack to think about, so I guess he just threw himself into what he was doing. I was too young to really remember much about her, but I’ve heard stories and seen pictures. Everyone loves her, but I guess one day that just wasn’t good enough anymore. Or maybe I wasn’t good enough for her, I don’t know. I guess I’ll ask her if I ever see her again,” Laura answers and Carmilla stops for a moment and watches as a sadness settled over Laura. 

“I’m sorry, Sweetheart. I guess we both have shitty mothers, huh?” Carmilla says sincerely and gives Laura a small smile. 

“I guess so, but anyway, how are you feeling after last night?” Laura asks after visibly shaking off whatever sadness had come over her. 

“Last night,” Carmilla repeats and the memories of what her Mother showed her came flooding back. Carmilla must have frozen up because after a moment she feels Laura grab onto her a shake her a little to get her attention. 

“Hey, hey, hey. You’re okay, alright?” Laura soothes and Carmilla blinks before looking at the girl again. 

“I’m okay, I just forgot is all,” Carmilla murmurs and Laura relaxes against her. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made you think about it again,” Laura apologises but Carmilla shakes her head.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for. The only one that should be apologising is my mother, and yours too for that matter,” 

“No chance of that happening then,” Laura replies and Carmilla hums in agreement. 

 

“You know, as much as I enjoy our other activities in the bedroom, I like this. It’s kinda nice just laying here. It’s been a long time since I’ve woken up in someone's arms,” Carmilla muses quietly and Laura pulls her closer.

“It is nice, isn’t it?” 

“Mhmm,” Carmilla hums and lets herself enjoy this moment of peace that she's found. 

“My arms are right here if you need them,” Laura says and Carmilla lifts her head and looks at the wolf. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Carmilla murmurs and cups Laura’s cheek. Laura closes the distance between them but before they get the chance to meet a knock on the door breaks the silence. 

“What do you want?” Carmilla all but growls and the door creeps open before Kirsch pokes his head around the door. 

“Alpha Laura, there's uh, there’s something you two need to see,” 

“Go away,” 

“We’ll be right there, Kirsch,” 

Both statements are made at the same time so there’s really no way of knowing which he listened to when Kirsch nods and disappears again. 

 

“Does the thought ever cross your mind to just take a vacation for a while from this whole Alpha thing?”

“Every single day,” 

 

~

 

When Laura and Carmilla arrive outside they see some of the sentries and guards huddled in a circle, and over the top of the crowd Kirsch and Danny both stand out. As the pair approach, the crowd separates to allow them to see into the circle, and they see what has caught the attention of the surrounding wolves. In the centre of the group sits a small box, unmarked but for an elegantly scrawled one, ‘Mircalla’.

“Mircalla?” Laura reads and Carmilla tenses beside her.

“Mother,” Carmilla breathes and takes a step towards the box. When she receives no objection, Carmilla kneels and lifts the lid a fraction before freezing once again as a familiar scent wafts through the air. 

“There’s blood, I can smell it,” Carmilla states but doesn't raise the lid any further.

“I know, we can smell it too,” Laura responds and nods at Carmilla when she turns to glance at her. 

 

Upon receiving the approval, Carmilla slowly removes the lid and drops it to the side as she takes in the contents. 

“Bash,” Carmilla mutters as she recognises the boy’s severed head, and tucked in the corner, is a small piece of paper. The blood has seeped through half of the paper but the message is still clearly visible, ‘I’ll see you in your dreams tonight, Darling.’ 

“We’ll see about that,” Carmilla says under her breath and watches as the rest of the wolves take in the sight before them.

 

Laura moves beside Carmilla to see inside the box and Carmilla crushes the paper in her hand before Laura gets the chance to read it.

“What was that?” Laura asks and jerks her head at the crumpled object in Carmilla’s hand.

“Mother’s calling card,” Carmilla replies and tucks it into her pocket. 

“So it was Lilita that did this,” Laura looks to one of the guards and waves her hand at the box, causing the wolf to step forward and pick up the box. 

“What would you like done with it, Alpha?” The guard asks after the box is sealed again and settled in his arms.

“Take it down to Laf, they can do whatever they’d like with it,” Laura answers and the guard nods before doing as he was told. 

“Of course it was her, who else would do this? I can’t imagine Vordenberg would do this to one of his own,” Carmilla scoffs and Laura looks at her. 

“How did you know he was one of Vordenberg’s?” 

“He’s the one that shot Will when we first got here, he was hiding out in the woods a few miles from here and decided to try and take us down,” 

“Kirsch wasn’t kidding about the hunters moving closer, they never should have been that close to our base,” Laura frowns and turns to address the rest of the wolves.

“Increase the number of guards and scouts on shift, if Vordenberg or his hunters so much a breathe in our territory I want to know about it,”  

“Yes, Alpha,” a chorus of responses sound and Laura nods before looking at Carmilla again. Her gaze softens again and The Alpha disappears as Laura takes her place once more. 

“Come on, Carm,” Laura says softly and begins to walk away again. 

“Where are we going?” Carmilla asks and Laura doesn’t turn back as she replies. 

“Somewhere that I can’t smell that boy’s blood,” 

~

 

That somewhere turns out to be the field from the full moon celebration and while it brings back memories of her mother’s threat last night, Carmilla couldn't care less as she watches 

Laura take a deep breath and a look of contentment settles on her face. 

 

“I’ve always liked coming out here. This is where my dad used to bring me out to train when I was little, he’d teach me to fight and track. He helped me figure out how to howl properly when I first learnt to shift too,” Laura breaks the peaceful silence that had settled over them.  Laura has a small smile on her face as she recalls the memories, and she sit plucking at blades of grass absentmindedly. Carmilla openly gazes at her, leaning back on her hands and stretching out her legs. 

“He sounds like a good guy,” Carmilla says softly and Laura smiles again.

“Yeah, he is. I really think you’d like each other,” 

“Well, if we survive this mess, I’d love to meet him one day,” 

“If we survive,” 

 

Silence falls over them again and Laura is once again the one to break the silence, “Hey, Carm?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I kind of like being out here in my wolf form, do you mind if I shift for a little bit?” Laura looks at Carmilla as if watching to see if the mention of shifting will set her off. Hell, a few weeks ago it might have, but now all Carmilla really wants is for Laura to be happy. 

“Whatever you need, Sweetheart,” Carmilla answers quietly and Laura lights up, not even waiting to stand before she shifts.

 

A moment later Laura’s fluffy form sits in the small girl’s place and the golden wolf rises to her feet. Carmilla smiles as the wolf pads over to her and nudges her face lightly with her nose. 

“Hey, just cause you can turn into a giant fluffball doesn’t mean you get to push me around,” Carmilla teases and Laura lets out a snuffy, wolf laugh before pushing the girl harder this time. Carmilla lets out a small ‘oof’ as she gets knocked off balance and falls on her back. Before she can get up, Laura settles her body down onto her side and rests her head on Carmilla’s stomach, watching the vampire tuck an arm behind her head so he can prop herself up and meet the wolf’s gaze. With her other hand, Carmilla begins to run her hand slowly through Laura’s soft fur. Laura lets out a huff of contentment and closes her eyes and Carmilla continues to stroke her fur. 

“Comfy?” Carmilla jokes and Laura makes another small sound of agreement and the vampire smiles before settling back down and closing her eyes as well. 

  
  



	11. Heated Tempers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny shows up to give Laura a report and tempers flare.

“Hey,”  
“Hey,”  
“Did I fall asleep again?” Laura asks after pushing herself up out of Carmilla’s lap. The fact that she is rubbing the sleep out of her eyes is a fairly clear indicator that she did, in fact, fall asleep but she still waits for confirmation.

“You sure did, you’ve been doing that a lot lately. I'm beginning to think that you are growing bored of me,” Carmilla hums in response and Laura smiles sheepishly.  
“I’m sorry, Carm. I promise I’m not growing bored of you, how could I? This whole Alpha thing just takes a lot out of a person, and I guess I feel, I don't know, safe, with you. It’s nice that I can just fall asleep and know that you won't let anything happen to me,”

“You are safe with me, Laura. I promise I won't let anything happen to you,” Carmilla says and her serious expression softens.  
“You can lay back down if you’d like, the stars have been keeping me company,”

“You sure you don’t mind?” Laura questions and Carmilla smiles softly before patting her lap.  
“I wouldn’t be here if I did,”

Laura watches her for another minute or two before she lays her head back down and sighs as Carmilla begins to run her fingers through her hair softly. Laura is almost asleep when Carmilla’s fingers still and her body relaxes for a moment before the vampire jerks up again. Carmilla’s fingers tense and her breathing seems almost frantic.

“Whoa, hey. Carm, are you okay?”  
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just don't want to fall asleep right now,” Carmilla answers but her response is stilted.  
“You’ve been acting kinda weird lately, are you still worried about what happened with your mom last week?”  
“Something like that, I’ve just had a lot on my mind. I’m fine though, really. You’ve got a whole pack to worry about, you don’t have to worry about me too,” Carmilla response and Laura stays quiet for a minute.  
“You know, between JP and his new body, and Mattie being babysat by Perry, I think I worry about you guys enough already to be considered a part of the pack. You are all charming enough that you’ve won a majority of us over already, and while I can’t speak for  
everyone else, I mean I can technically, but you know what I mean. If you ask me, you’ve been a part of the pack for a while now,”

When the words finally form, they form in numbers and Laura turns her head to see that the vampire’s eyes have turned significantly glassier than they were.

“That means more to me than you realise, Laura. Mother always told us that we wouldn't be accepted anywhere else, that she’s the only one that will love us the way we deserve. Thank you, it’s an honour to know that you trust me that much,” Carmilla says and the way the girl is smiling, Laura really couldn't give a damn about the stars in the sky behind her. Laura catches the scent a second or two before Carmilla does and in the time it takes for Laura to sit up she sees Carmilla’s smile drop before she realises that somewhere else has walked onto the field.

“Sorry to interrupt the little moment you two were having but I have a report for the Alpha,” Danny says and Carmilla tenses before understanding flashes across her face.  
“So speak,” Carmilla says I'm an equally hostile tone. Laura doesn’t need to be able to read chemosignals to pick up on the animosity between the two women.

“Go ahead, Danny. Carm can hear whatever it is you need to tell me,” Laura draws back the attention of her beta in an attempt to defuse the situation before it escalates any further.  
“As you wish, Alpha. The extra scouts you requested have found that the hunter activity has skyrocketed since the hunter was killed last week. We’ve also had reports that vampires have been found in our territory,” Danny relays the information but the malice when mentioning vampires is hanging clearly in the air.  
“What the hell do the vampires think they are doing moving into my land? They’ve never tried before,” Laura asks but the question is more rhetorical than anything.  
“If I had to warrant a guess, I’d say your pet leech over here got lonely and decided to invite her buddies over for a visit,” Danny spits out and Carmilla is immediately in her space.

“I suggest you watch you tongue before I rip it out, dog,” Carmilla growls and Danny puffs up in anger.  
“Danny, watch your mouth. Carmilla has done nothing wrong while she’s been here,” Laura states but Danny’s gaze remains locked on the angry vampire’s.  
“You should listen to your Alpha, I swore I wouldn’t kill anyone in the pack and as much as I’d enjoy watching you bleed out, I’d rather keep my word,” Carmilla warns, her fangs pressing against her lower lip, not quite bared. Danny’s eyes begin to glow and her canines grow out, clear warning signs of her anger.  
“Enough,” Laura growls, the order clear in the growl of her voice and both Carmilla and Danny snap back to look at her.

“I can’t believe how blind you are being, Laura. Do you really think that a mere three weeks after not one, but three, vampires show up that a sudden appearance of vampire activity is a coincidence? She’s probably been feeding her coven inside information since she got here,” Danny exclaims and Carmilla growls again before Laura sends her a look to remain quiet. The vampire’s jaw tenses but after a moment she nods and her fangs retract again.  
“I trust her, Danny. She doesn’t want anything to do with her old coven, and I expect you to treat her with the same respect you would any other pack member,” Laura’s voice as taken on that deadly calm and it’s clear to see that the Alpha has taken over.  
“Of course you trust her, you’ve been fucking her since she got here,” Danny retorts and Laura’s anger flares up again at the same time that Carmilla’s does.

“That is none of your business, and I strongly advise you don’t mention it again,” Laura says and Danny seems to only grow angrier at the newest threat.  
“Oh please, everyone already knows. Do you really think we couldn’t smell her on you? Do you really think we couldn’t hear? We had to deal with questions from the pups wondering why ‘Carmilla and Alpha Laura were hurting each other but we weren’t doing anything about it’. Jesus Christ, Laura. It’s bad enough that you welcomed vamps into our home, but you don’t even have to decency to at least be subtle about fucking one of them. I’m beginning to think that your father was wrong when he stepped down to hand you the pack,”

Up until that point, Laura was able to control her anger, but the fact that her beta had the nerve to question her father’s decision in naming her Alpha pushed her over the edge. Laura feels her canines appear and her the brilliant glow of her eyes reflect in Danny’s. Laura releases a roar that causes both the beta and the vampire to flinch.  
“If you deem me unfit to rule then you are free to challenge me, but if you ever say that my father was wrong to give me the title, I will show you exactly how deserving I am to be Alpha. Do you understand, Beta?” Laura’s fury in rippling in the air and her words seem to have the desired impact on the wolf.

“Yes, Alpha,” Danny responds in way of submission but before Laura can dismiss her, Carmilla speaks up.  
“You know, you can say whatever you want about my being a vampire, but from what I’ve seen, I show a hell of a lot more respect for the Alpha than you do. For someone that is meant to be her second in command, you sure do seem to go against her more often than not. You should really do something about that,”  
“It is none of your concern how I serve my Alpha. Unless you want to settle the score, stay the fuck out of it, bloodsucker,” Danny threatens and Carmilla smirks at her, clearly more in control of her rage than the fuming wolf.  
“You know, you call me that a lot. That in itself would be enough for me to justify knocking you down a few pegs. I did give my word that I wouldn’t hurt anyone in Laura’s pack, but if you are willing to take the first swing, I’d be happy to oblige,” Carmilla drawls and Danny takes the bait, releasing a roar and leaping at the vampire.

The thing that worries Laura beyond the fact that Carmilla just instigated a fight is the fact that Danny’s opening attack was sloppy. She knows that Carmilla could have easily taken her down, hell, she’s seen Carmilla do it when she spars with the wolves, but Carmilla faltered. She managed to stop Danny’s initial attack but the two still plummet to the ground in such an ungraceful way that she finds it hard to believe that it is really Carmilla fighting. As Danny comes out of the mess of limbs on top of Carmilla and pulls her a clawed hand to take a swing, Laura blurs into motion. Before Danny can attack, Laura latches onto her wrist with one hand and her collar by the other hand, with a smooth motion she tosses the wolf backwards to turns to watch as she tumbles backwards before coming to a stop with a growl.

“Enough, if you want to fight someone, it’ll be me. We both know that you will lose, so I suggest you go cool off somewhere else,” Laura orders when Danny prepares to leap back into the fight. Danny’s jaw locks but she stands and tugs her shirt back into place before storming off. Laura watches the retreating form before spinning around to glare at the vampire still laying on her back.  
“And you, what the hell is wrong with you? I know you are strong enough to have fought her, what was that?”  
“I figured I’d use her for a little adrenaline fix,” Carmilla shrugs and as Laura reaches down to pull Carmilla up by the hand she notices that Carmilla is a lot paler than she usually is. Carmilla wobbles on her feet and after a moment her legs give out and Laura reaches out to catch her before she falls.  
“Whoa, whoa. No you don’t, I’ve got you,” Laura mutters as she anchors the vampire with an arm around her hip.  
“I guess the adrenaline didn’t do much after all,” Carmilla mumbles and as she tries to take a step she begins to fall again.  
“Yeah, okay. It’s time to go, you need to sit down while I figure out what the hell is wrong with you,” Laura says as she leans down to pick Carmilla up in her arms and begins walking back inside.  
“I can walk on my own, Cupcake,” Carmilla protests but leans her head onto Laura’s shoulder and tightens her arms around her shoulders.  
“Yeah, I’m not so sure about that,” Laura mumbles.

The Alpha nods to the few curious wolves she passes as she heads towards her bedroom. She would go to Carmilla’s because it is significantly closer, but she wants to keep an eye on the girl and her bedroom is significantly more comfortable. The walk is relatively quick and while Carmilla is still very much awake, she remains silent.

“So, are you ready to tell me what is going on?” Laura asks after setting Carmilla down on the bed.  
“I suppose I probably should,” Carmilla responds and Laura sits down on the other side of the bed, giving the vampire her full attention.  
“Remember how I told you Mother left a calling card? She did, I didn’t lie about that, but she also left me a message,” Carmilla admits and Laura looks at her expectantly.  
“She said, ‘I’ll see you in your dreams tonight, darling’. I’m not ready to deal with her again just yet, so I figured out a way of avoiding it,”  
“A way of avoiding what? Dreaming?” Laura asks and Carmilla watches her for a moment before sighing.  
“No, I’ve been avoiding sleeping,” 


	12. Unexpected Sensations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura takes Carmilla to bed, and Carmilla tells some stories from her past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean to post this yesterday but I updated another one of my older stories and then the friends I'm staying with while I'm on break from Uni came home and I got caught up in other things. I should be back home in a few days though, and the regular update schedule should start back up again.

“You haven’t slept in a week?! That’s insane, no wonder you couldn’t fight Danny. If I’d known I might have let her knock some sense into you,” Laura exclaims and Carmilla rolls her eyes but her skin is still pale and isn’t making Laura feel any better.   
“It’s really not that big of a deal, I’m fine,” Carmilla argues but Laura continues.  
“What were you thinking? You could have been hurt, or worse,”   
“I was thinking that Mother is going to brutally murder me and everyone I care about, so if I can slow her down even a little, then I will. Besides, would you have really cared? It would have made your life easier and your pack wouldn’t be on Mother’s radar anymore,” Carmilla mutters and looks away.  
“Don’t do that, how could you even ask me that? Of course I would care, even if it did make my life easier, I know my pack is capable of defending itself and I wouldn’t take back helping you for a second. After everything that I’ve done since I got here, you really think that I don’t care? Like the thought of something happening to you doesn’t make me feel like I can’t breathe?” The words tumble out of Laura’s mouth and Carmilla finally looks up at her, searching her face for any ounce of insincerity. Finding none, the vampire grabs Laura’s face in her hands and kisses her without another moment of restraint.

This kiss is different from any of the others the two had shared, this one ruled by emotion rather than just carnal lust. The wolf allows herself to be pressed lightly into the mattress as Carmilla lowers herself down and continues their kiss, moving her hands from their original position on Laura’s face to one on her hip and the other against the bed beside her.

Laura brings her hands up to rest first by Carmilla’s hips and then up beneath her shirt, lifting the thin material up along her back. The shirt reaches up to Carmilla’s arms before she seems to notice and lifts her arms and breaks their kiss to allow Laura to pull her shirt off the rest of the way. Rather than kissing Laura again Carmilla leans back a little and begins to undo the button and zipper on the wolf’s jeans before tugging them gently off. Carmilla is watching her with a soft gaze and when she presses their lips together again Laura sighs into the kiss and relaxes into the other girl. After revelling in the moment, Laura flips them and settles down comfortably on top of Carmilla, placing light kisses along her neck and thoroughly enjoying the quiet sounds that are tumbling out of the vampire.

Carmilla’s fingers are digging into Laura’s back but before long Laura repeats the process of ridding Carmilla of her jeans. Once the jeans have been stripped, Laura sits back on her heels and examines the girl in front of her. All of the times that they had had sex had been purely driven by lust and anger, and Laura was just now stopping to take in the view before her. She knew Carmilla’s body was something to marvel at, but now that she was taking the time to really look she began to notice that the pale skin isn’t quite as flawless as she had thought. Scattered along Carmilla’s skin lay scars that certainly shouldn’t belong to a supernatural being.

Before Laura can give it much thought she notices Carmilla squirming uncomfortably and after a glance at her eyes, the wolf can tell that the girl is feeling vulnerable.   
“I’ve shown you mine, it’s only fair that you show me yours,” Carmilla tries for her usual bravado but it just falls flat and Laura feels the urge to reassure her. Laura leans forward again and kisses her gently before pulling back and pulling her own shirt over her head.

“You’re beautiful, Carm,” Laura whispers and connects their lips again.   
“After seeing you, I’m beginning to think that there isn't even a word to compare,” Carmilla murmurs against Laura’s lips and wraps her arms around the girl’s waist and rolls them over again. Laura’s hands snake up and unclasp Carmilla’s bra before sliding it down and off, leaning up in the next second and removing her own. As soon as her arms are free again, Laura wraps them around Carmilla’s bare shoulders and pulls them closer again. The two girls gasp in unison as they marvel at the feeling of bare skin and Laura bares her neck, allowing Carmilla to work the skin with her teeth and tongue. Laura’s torn between being pleased and disappointed when she notices that Carmilla’s fangs have yet to make an appearance.

Before Laura can really ponder her actions, Carmilla lowers herself down to wrap her lips around her nipple, tongue working at a slow pace. Carmilla starts to move down her stomach, pressing kisses and nipping along the skin. As Carmilla’s fingers reach the waistband of Laura’s underwear, she hooks her fingers and drags them down, continuing to press her lips against the newly revealed skin.

Carmilla finally tosses the underwear to the side and gently parts Laura’s legs, watching the girl’s face for any sign of discomfort. When she is satisfied that Laura wants this just as much as she does she settles between Laura’s thighs and begins to work her tongue. It’s so different from the last time Carmilla was between her legs, that was all sloppy movements and angry thrusts. The calm and deliberate way in which Carmilla is now is truly something, and it is working Laura up in such an unexpected way that she is close to tumbling over the edge already.

Carmilla flicks her tongue against Laura’s clit and earns a particularly high pitched moan from the Alpha. Laura unclenches her fists from the sheets and gently tangles them in Carmilla’s hair, without even thinking about it, she begins to move her fingers in gentle patterns across her scalp. Carmilla hums at the sensation and the resulting vibration are enough for Laura, letting loose a final moan and tensing her thighs against the vampire’s head.

Carmilla presses kisses to Laura’s inner thigh when her muscles relax and release the vampire from their hold. Carmilla drags her lips back over Laura’s body and finds her lips again as Laura settles back down. Rather than flipping them over again as she usually would, Laura instead begins to run her hand down Carmilla’s body and delves into the wetness between the girl’s legs. This must take the vampire by surprise because a loud moan slips out unmonitored and echoes in the quiet of Laura’s bedroom.

“You’re getting a little loud there, babe,” Laura teases as she continues to stroke her fingers, she notices that her voice is rougher than she expected and it only leaves her to wonder how loud she was a few minutes ago.   
“Can you really blame mmmm,” Carmilla’s words are cut off by a breathy whine when Laura presses two fingers into her entrance.  
“You’re not helping,” Carmilla tries to grumble but she ends up dropping her head and panting into Laura’s shoulder as the wolf begins a steady pace.   
“I wasn’t trying to, I like hearing you fall apart for me. Those high pitched, little sounds you make when I press into you just the right way. You’re always such a good girl for me, Carm. Do you like being a good girl for your Alpha?”

As much as Laura is enjoying the slow, passionate sex that has developed, her Alpha Dominance is seeping in and turning her tone absolutely filthy. Carmilla gasps at her words and begins to push down on Laura’s fingers with each thrust, nodding frantically against Laura’s neck.   
“Use your words like a good girl,” Laura orders and Carmilla moans again.   
“Yes, yes I like being a good girl for my Alpha. I’m such a good girl, fuuucck,” Carmilla is once again cut off by a whimper so high her voice is barely even there when Laura introduces a third finger.

“Mmmm, now ride your Alpha’s fingers like the good girl that you are,” Laura says and Carmilla latches onto Laura’s neck with her teeth and begins to buck up and down on Laura’s finger at a faster, more desperate pace.   
“Do you want to come for me?” Laura asks and Carmilla moans against her skin before pulling back enough to speak.  
“Yes,”   
“Yes, what?” Laura growls and curls her fingers inside of the vampire.   
“Yes, Alpha,” Carmilla answers and throws her head back as Laura hits the spot that is making her see stars.   
“Come for your Alpha, Carmilla,” Laura whispers and Carmilla screams as her release wracks through her body.

When Carmilla comes down again Laura gently removes her fingers and pulls the covers up over them as Carmilla settles into her side.   
“You okay?” Laura asks quietly, having returned to herself.   
“I'm very okay right now. I forgot how intense you get when the Alpha comes out to play,” Carmilla hums against Laura’s skin and the wolf chuckles.  
“Yeah, it’s definitely an interesting personality trait to get a handle on. You don’t seem to mind it though, you seem to have a hell of a praise kink,”   
“Yes, I suppose I do,” Carmilla agrees and the two fall into silence.

Laura runs her arm along Carmilla’s exposed skin and when she reaches one of the many scars riddling her body, her curiosity gets the best of her.   
“How did you get all of these scars? I thought vampire healing meant that you couldn't scar like this?”   
“While I could easily make a certain movie reference, I can’t imagine you would appreciate that at the moment. To answer your question though, vampires typically don’t scar. To put it lightly though, my mother has been known to be very creative in her punishments. As I’m sure you know, both vampire blood and werewolf blood can have healing properties, but what you probably don't know is that when vampire blood is used on another vampire it has the opposite effect,” Carmilla explains and Laura continues to explore her scars with her fingers.

“What do you mean by ‘opposite effect’?” Laura asks, briefly stopping her movements.   
“When a vampire is injured and exposed to another vampire’s blood, it can slow down the healing rate often to some point between supernatural being and human. The slowed down healing results in the wounds having enough time to scar. Vampire blood isn’t harmful enough to kill a vampire, but it’s a hell of a way to weaken someone. It takes massive amounts of blood to flush it out of your system enough to heal properly,”

“So your mother decided to punish you, and then bleed all over you so that you wouldn’t heal straight away?” Laura asks after processing the information.   
“Not quite, that would be far too simple for Maman. No, she used magic to infuse her blood into a variety of different weapons she used to torture me,”

“Do you mind telling me about some of your scars? It’s totally fine if you don’t want to talk about it though,”   
“Ask away, Cupcake. They’re just scars,” Carmilla shrugs lightly and Laura nods before searching for a scar.

“What about this one?” Laura runs her thumb over puckered skin about the size of a coin with a small line extending from one side an inch or two above Carmilla’s right hipbone.   
“Fire iron, superheated and stabbed into my side,”   
Laura squeaks in discomfort but moves her hand to the next scar, this time, a faded white line stretching across Carmilla’s stomach.  
“Straight razor, that one stung like a bitch.”

Laura bites her lip and drags her hand over Carmilla’s shoulder to one of the raised ridges on her back.  
“A whip with a particularly sharp tip,”

Laura moves her hand to search for another but Carmilla catches her hand, cradling it in her hand.   
“I don't mind telling you about this, but I’m very tired at the moment and I’d rather just be here with you for a bit. I’ve got plenty more stories I can tell you another time,” Carmilla says and Laura nods in understanding.

“You know, Carm, you can sleep if you want to. Even if your mother does go into your dream, she can’t really hurt you. I promise I’ll be right here to wake you up if anything happens, I’ll keep you safe,” Laura murmurs and Carmilla looks up at her for a moment before leaning up and pressing a soft kiss to her lips.   
“Thank you, Laura,” Carmilla whispers and before Laura’s lips even stop tingling Carmilla is already asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally meant to be a romantic feelings fest, and it was in the beginning but that last bit of kinkiness took me by surprise as much as anyone. Laura wanted something a little more intense, so it happened I guess. What can I say? Apparently Carm isn't the only one with a bit of a praise kink, and I was rolling in the sin for a little bit there.


	13. Protect the Pack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla tries to bail, Laura and Carmilla are idiots, and someone crashes a pack meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, it's been a long time since I updated. I've been busy with life I guess. I should probably give a certain Slytherin I know a shoutout because she will likely read this at some point soon.

The telltale darkness that accompanies her Mother’s visit is really starting to piss Carmilla off, but it’s to be expected. 

“Hello again, Darling. It’s been some time, you haven’t been avoiding me now have you?” 

“Cut the shit, Mother. You know damn well that I’ve been avoiding you,” Carmilla snaps and Lilita’s lip twinges in displeasure. 

“Now, now, dear. That’s hardly the welcoming I deserve,” 

“If we spoke about what you deserve, we’d be stuck here for the next century. Now either tell me what you want to tell me or leave me the hell alone so I can finally get some sleep,”

 

Lilita raises an eyebrow and sighs after a moment,

“Fine, what I want is to put this ridiculous business behind us so that we can be a family again. I expect you’ll pass the sentiment along to your sister, it’s a little late for dear William but I suppose that’s no great loss,” 

“And if we don’t want to ‘be a family again’?” 

“Oh, you silly girl. You act as though you have a choice in the matter,”

“Of course, of course you just expect us to fall down at your feet and beg forgiveness. Well guess what, Mother. You are going to be waiting a long damn time, because I am never coming back. I’m done with you, and the sooner you get that and stop tormenting me the better,” Carmilla takes a step forward, a strange sense of courage washing over her. Her mother looks unfazed but Carmilla stands her ground. 

 

“I do wonder where this new-found defiance is coming from, no doubt from that little plaything you’ve found. No matter, she’ll be taken care of soon enough,” 

“What do you mean, ‘taken care of’? Messing with me is one thing, but you and I both know that the Hollis Pack is too strong for you to do anything to Laura. If you could have, you would have already taken them out years ago,” Carmilla states and Lilita quirks a lip.

“Even so, if I want something dead it will be eventually. I assume that mutt of yours has enough sense to realise that I am not one to be taken lightly. The second she sees me coming she’s going to roll over and send you packing,” 

“I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss her, Mother. You might just come to regret it,” Carmilla warns and Lilita laughs.

“Do you really think that that child can stop me? Even if she could, do you really think she would risk her pack just for you? You’re worthless. Simply a pawn, a plaything to move around as I see fit. You’re nothing, Darling, the sooner you realise that the better off you’ll be,”

“You’re wrong,” Carmilla says, but her voice has gone shaky and Lilita laughs again.

“We shall see, I suppose. You have three days, Mircalla. Three days and I will come for you, it will be in the best interest of everyone involved if you just give yourself over willingly,” 

 

Before Carmilla even has a chance to respond her mother disappears and she springs up in bed. Arms are reaching out for her and she panics before swatting them away. 

“Carm, it’s me. You’re safe,” Laura says and one glance at her face tells Carmilla that Laura has been trying to wake her for some time. 

 

“I need to leave. I need to leave right now,” Carmilla states and Laura leans back for a second.

“What, why? If it’s because of the nightmare, it’s fine. I really don’t mind,” Laura tries to placate Carmilla but the girl shakes her head quickly and moves around the room retrieving her clothes and dress quickly. 

“No, you don’t understand. I need to leave, I can’t stay here, Laura. It’s not safe,” Carmilla insists and Laura stops to study her before quickly putting her own clothes back on. 

“I told you that you are safe here, Carm. Your mother can’t hurt you here,” 

“That the thing, I’m not safe anymore. This isn’t just about the dreams anymore, Laura. She’s going to come for me, and she’s going to burn this place to the ground to get what she wants,” Carmilla is becoming more frantic the longer she spreads sitting here and before Laura can respond she attempts to blur out of the room. Before she reaches the door, Laura is in front of her, grabbing her by the face and pulling the vampire’s gaze to meet her’s. 

“Oh, no you don’t. You don’t get to run out of here like that without telling me what the holy hell is going on,” Laura says firmly and Carmilla stops as she sees the determination in the Alpha’s eyes.

“She gave me three days to return to her, and if I don’t she’s going to come for me. If she comes here, she is going to slaughter everyone. I have to go, it’s the only way that you’ll be safe from her, the only way that the pack will be safe from her,” Carmilla tries to explain but she can see fury going in Laura’s eyes as her hands fall from Carmilla’s face. 

 

“Is that what this is about? You think you need to protect me, that I can’t look after myself?” Laura demands and Carmilla groans as she realises how this must sound. 

“No, Laura,” 

“That’s it isn’t it? The big bad vampire has to protect Little Laura because she can’t possibly protect herself. God, you are just like the rest of them, like Danny, like my dad. I thought you were different, Carmilla. You know what? You can just go, it’s not like you really give a damn about anything besides breaking that damn hex,” Laura’s voice begins to waver and Carmilla can only shake her head as the wolf grows angrier. 

“Shut up,” 

“Excuse me?” Laura asks, surprise filtering into her confusion.

“I said, shut up. I’m not going to stand here and listen to you rant at me because you think I don’t give a damn. Laura, you are the strongest, kindest, most absolutely infuriating person I have ever met, but you’re a complete fool if you think I’m just here to baby you and bump up own my ego. Jesus Christ, Laura. I’m not doing this to protect you, I’m doing this to protect myself,” 

“Oh, so it’s not really about me or the pack. You are trying to save your own skin, get a head start on your next escape before your mother gets too close,” Laura mutters and her anger turns into that eerie calm that Carmilla had only ever seen directed at others. 

“Ugh, how can someone so smart be such an idiot? In over a century, you are the only person I’ve ever found worth fighting for. You, Laura. You, and only you. If something happened to you because of me, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I care about you, more than I can even comprehend and the thought of my mother hurting you because I disobeyed her physically hurts,” Laura doesn’t say another word as Carmilla speaks and she is speechless for a moment after as well.

“That’s why I need to go, Laura. I’m not going to be the reason that everything you’ve worked for, and everything you care about, is destroyed,” 

 

“You won’t be,” Laura whispers and Carmilla almost doesn’t hear her. 

“What?” Carmilla asks and Laura sets her jaw before raising her head and speaking again.

“You won’t be the reason, because if it comes down to a fight then we’ll be ready. I meant it when I said that you are a part of the pack, Carm. I’m the Alpha of this pack and I intend to honour my vow to keep my pack safe,” 

“You can’t fight her, Laura. She’s too strong,” 

“How much do you know about the Hollis Pack exactly?” Laura asks after a moment and Carmilla frowns at the question.

“The Hollis Pack is one of the oldest surviving packs, it’s also thought to be one of the strongest in the country,” 

“I guess you can’t really Google it for regular updates, can you? You aren’t far off though. Based on our numbers, individual strengths, and territory size, the Hollis Pack is the second strongest and the oldest of the werewolf packs both existing and past,” 

“Right, like I said, one of the strongest and oldest in the country,” Carmilla reaffirms and Laura makes a face.

“In the world, actually. It’s a common misconception. The only pack stronger than us is too far to the east to really be an issue, so you could say we are the strongest pack for quite a while,” Laura corrects sheepishly and Carmilla raises an eyebrow in contemplation. 

“As nice as that is to know, why are you telling me this? I already told you that I know how powerful you are,” Carmilla asks after processing the information.

“I’m telling you because you seem to think that your mother is this all powerful entity that all fall down before, seriously you make her sound like the female equivalent to Voldemort. What you haven’t taken into account is that there is a reason that the Hollis Pack is so well known, we aren’t some puppy preschool. Your mother has been wanting to take a run at this pack since long before I was Alpha. She knows that there is a chance that she could lose, it’s why she hasn’t already tried to take us out,” 

 

Carmilla remains silent as Laura speaks, kicking herself for not realising all of this sooner. 

“If I didn’t think I could keep my pack safe I wouldn’t have let you in in the first place, I am more than prepared for whatever your mother wants to throw at me,” 

“Laura, I can’t ask you to risk your pack when I can just leave and fix this whole mess,” Carmilla says but Laura simply smiles.

“If you think that you even need to ask, then I’m not the only idiot here.” 

 

Carmilla opens her mouth to respond but can’t find the words and Laura smiles again before turning on her heel and exiting the room.

“Come on then,” 

“Where are you going?” Carmilla asks but follows her anyway.

“To go and tell the pack that we’ve got a battle to win,” 

 

~

 

It takes all of five minutes for word to spread throughout that base that Alpha Laura has called a pack meeting and the entire pack is gathered in the mess hall. 

 

“Sorry for the short notice everybody, but I have some news that really can’t wait,” Laura addresses her pack and receives nods and quiet sounds of acknowledgement pressing her to continue. 

“I’m sure most of you are aware of our past issues with Lilita Morgan and her coven, and a some of you will also know that Carmilla was previously associated with them,”

Once again Laura receives various responses from the surrounding pack, this time, there are a few more murmurs. 

“The reason I’ve called you all here is because Lilita has declared that she is coming for Carmilla. I don’t know about you guys, but I quite like having Carmilla around and I think it’s about time that we show Miss Morgan that we aren’t just going to roll over for her,”

A few cheers sound from the pack and the murmuring increases, as does the excitement in the room. 

“Alpha Laura, are you saying that we are going to war?” Kirsch steps away from the pack and Laura’s eyes fall on him.

“I am, and I hope you are all willing to stand with me. Lilita and her forces will be here in three days, and when she does get here, we are going to be ready to kick some ass. I’d say this fight has been a long time coming. So what do you say? Are you all with me?” 

The pack cheer in unison and Laura stands tall at the front, soaking in the shared excitement and anticipation from her pack. After a moment, the atmosphere in the room changes and Carmilla sees Laura tense at the same time that she picks up on a strange new presence that exudes authority much like Laura does. The pack falls silent and the begin to fall to the side, parting into two as a man strides confidently through the room with Danny trailing behind him. The man can’t be out of his twenties but he carries himself in a way that suggests that he is much older than he appears. Carmilla studies the new arrival curious and notices that both his scent and appearance are eerily familiar. Laura stands frozen as the man advances closer and Carmilla moves closer to the girl before threading their fingers together and giving a light squeeze. The only movement Laura makes is to return the squeeze and tighten her grip on Carmilla’s hand.

 

"Care to tell me what in the hell is going on around here, Laura?” The man demands and Carmilla tenses up at the sudden silence throughout the room, broken only by Laura’s quiet voice.

“Dad,” 

  
  
  
  



	14. Necessary Evil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura's father makes a hell of a first impression, and Laura has to let her Alpha out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone that reads my other fic, Poison On Our Tongues, will know about the influence that The Emma has over my updating so you guys can thank her for this one. I know you've been waiting for this one, The Emma. Have fun, this one is a doozy.

“I’m waiting, Laura,”  
“What are you doing here, Dad?” Laura asks, still overcoming her surprise at her father’s sudden appearance. The fact that Danny is standing behind him and has yet to make eye contact doesn’t leave her with a particularly good feeling either.  
“What am I doing here? I’m here to make sure you don’t get yourself killed, and drag to pack down with you. From the looks of things, I’ve come just in time,” Laura flinches as her father’s clear disapproval, but when his gaze travels down to look pointedly at Laura and Carmilla’s joined hands her anger rises up.

“Are you suggesting that I don’t know how to run my own pack?” Laura questions, her voice turning deadly.  
“I’m suggesting that perhaps you aren’t ready to be running your own pack,”  
Laura growls at the response and her father stands tall but she can see the doubt in his eyes. He’s not strong enough to beat her, he hasn’t been for a long time.  
“Are you going to try and take it from me?” Laura can feel her eyes begin to glow and her father’s soon follow suit before she feels Carmilla tug her hand lightly. Laura remains on the alert for any movement in front of her as she turns to look at Carmilla. The girl in question has a look on her face that is asking her to trust her, so she nods as the vampire squeeze her hand before releasing it and stepping forward.

“Look, Sir. I don’t know you, and you don’t know me but I think it would be best if we all cool our jets and talk about this,” Carmilla says, more likely trying to garner peace to avoid Laura getting angry but that notion went out of the window when her position as alpha was challenged.  
“You must be the vampire that has been corrupting my little girl,” Laura’s father states and a fresh wave of anger announces its presence.

“Okay, two things. First of all, I haven’t corrupted anyone while I’ve been with this pack. Second, Laura isn’t a little girl anymore. She’s the strongest wolf I’ve ever met, and if you don’t stop acting like an ass and starting acting like you should, she’s going to knock you on yours. I’ve been trying to stop this fight, but you are doing a bang up job of provoking it,” Carmilla’s voice is even but Laura can tell the vampire is just as pissed off as she is.

“Watch your mouth, vampire. This is between me and my daughter,” the young man looks at Carmilla with contempt and the vampire smiles.  
“As you wish, I’ll let her handle it. I was trying to help you out. He’s all yours, Alpha,” Carmilla turns back to look at Laura as she steps back.

“Jesus, I knew things were bad but to find out that you’ve shacked up with a vampire. I thought I raised you better than that, Laura. I’m glad your mother isn’t here to see you like this,”

Laura doesn’t flinch, in fact, she smiles and turns as Carmilla mutters, “You should not have said that.”  
“Oh, I’m not going to try and stop you again. Kick his ass, baby. I’ve got your back,” Carmilla says when she notices Laura’s questioning glance.

As Laura turns back to face the man that raised her, all compassion she has for him falls away as her Alpha rises to the surface to defend her authority.  
“I’d think very carefully about what you say next, Adam. You’ve repeatedly questioned my position as Alpha, and if you deem me inadequate then issue the challenge,”

Adam looks surprised at the use of his name, apparently now only realises just how seriously Laura is taking this situation.

“You’re going to fight your own father? After I came all of this way to see you?” Adam asks incredulously and Laura simply raises a brow at him.  
“I don’t want to fight you, Laura, but if it comes down to the good of the pack then I will. After hearing that you’ve decided to declare war against the vampires, I’m beginning to think I don’t have a choice anymore. When Danny called me and told me that you’d let vampires into the base I knew I need to come and see for myself, but this is ridiculous,”

Danny finally makes eye contact at the same time that Laura lets out a growl with enough power to drop the wolves in the room to their knees. Adam seems amazed when he too falls to his knees but he has little time to dwell because Laura has turned her fury on her Beta.  
“Laura, I can explain,” Danny starts but Laura growls again and she falls silent.  
“You called my father?” Laura questions, her anger fading into the deadly calm that she enters when her Alpha is most prominent.  
“With everything that’s happened with the vampire, I was worried about you. I knew that your father could talk some sense into you,” Danny rushes to explain but Laura isn’t having it.

“You called the one person that you know would challenge me, and the one person that you know I hate trying to control me? For what, because I’m making decisions you don’t agree with?”  
“It’s not like that, I’m just trying to protect you,” Danny stammers and that’s the final straw.  
“How many times do I need to prove that I don’t need anyone’s protection? You just can’t accept it can you?” Laura laughs bitterly.

“Laura,” Adam warns but Laura turns to him and bares her canines.  
“You stay out of this,” the Alpha growls and watches as the man lowers himself back down.

The Alpha turns her attention back to her Beta as she cowers under the force of the dominance bearing down. She can sense that the vampire is nearby, but doesn’t make a move to interfere.

“Rise,” She orders the Beta, her voice radiating power.  
“Please, Laura. Don’t do this,” the Beta begs, finally catching on to what is happening.  
“Rise, or stay on your knees. You will learn your place either way,”

With that, the Alpha changes into her primal form and begins to stalk circles around the Beta who quickly changes form as well, waiting for her punishment. The Beta watches the Alpha out of the corner of her eye but remains still as the Alpha leaps forward and sinks her teeth into the flesh of the Beta’s hind leg. The Beta yelps and the Alpha releases before continuing to stalk in a slow circle. Completing the circle, the Alpha repeats the action to the injured leg before pulling back and latching onto a front leg in quick succession. The Alpha’s attention moves to her other Beta as he attempts to step in to help his mate when she releases another pained yelp. Two wolves step forward and keep the Beta at bay, allowing their Alpha to continue. Finally, the Alpha moves to stand in front of the injured Beta and growls, demanding submission. The Beta drops to her back and exposes her throat quickly in response to the display. Satisfied with the submission the golden wolf steps back and shakes her fur before shifting back into her human form. The wolf still on her back stands and shifts back as well, kneeling with her head low.

“Danny Lawrence, you are no longer fit to serve as my second in command. As Alpha of the Hollis Pack I hereby strip you of your role as Beta,” Laura declares, blood still smeared on her mouth and watches as Danny nods her head.  
“Adam Hollis, if you wish to challenge me as Alpha you may do so. Otherwise, I want you gone by noon tomorrow,” Laura watches as her father’s mouth tightens but he remains silent.

“Dismissed,” Laura orders, turning on her heel and walking out of the room.

Laura immediately feels Carmilla’s presence as the girl walks beside herself, leaving a considerable space between them.

“You can speak, Carm. I’m not going to bite you,” Laura sighs after watching the other girl eyeing her silently.

“That was kind of intense,” Carmilla finally says, and Laura turns to glance at her.  
“That was merciful. Most Alphas would exile any wolf that dares to go behind their back the way Danny did,” Laura corrects and Carmilla closes her mouth, falling silent again.

“Where are we going?” Carmilla asks after a while and looks over at the other girl.  
“Nowhere really, I just need to walk for a bit,” Laura responds quietly and Carmilla glances at her again.  
“Alright, how about we go get you cleaned up and then go sit out in the field for a while? Maybe look at the stars?” Carmilla suggests in a soft voice and Laura reaches up to her face, pulling her hand back to see the blood she had honestly forgotten about.  
“Yeah, that sounds nice,”

The two walk in silence until they reach Laura’s room and as Carmilla wanders through the closet finding something for Laura to change into while she showers. She ends up with a large jumper and a pair of sweatpants that she knows Laura favours. Without really needing to think about it, she eases the bathroom door open and places the clothes down on the basin.  
“Here you go, Sweetheart,”  
“Thanks, Carm. You know, you can stay in here. I don’t mind,” Laura calls out, stepping out of the spray of the water in order to talk to the girl.  
“As much as I’d love to take a shower with you, it’s probably not the best time,” Carmilla politely declines and Laura sighs.  
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just, I’d prefer if you stayed in here. There’s this stupid little part of me that is telling me that after what I just did, you are going to run for the hills as soon as I turn my back,” Laura’s voice holds a vulnerability that is so far away from her usual demeanour and Carmilla’s eyes soften immediately. Laura turns off the water and steps out while waiting for a response.

“Cupcake, do you really think that whatever deep dark you’ve got is enough to scare off a vampire?” Carmilla whispers the last word as though it is some great secret but Laura chews on her lip and averts her gaze. A moment later, Carmilla is behind her and wrapping her up securely in a towel.  
“I’m not going anywhere, Laura,” Carmilla murmurs and presses a soft kiss to Laura’s cheek. Carmilla gently guides her forward and scoops up her new clothes as they walk past.

Once they are back in the bedroom, Laura dries herself off and dresses quickly while Carmilla sprawls out on the bed.

“Do you mind if we maybe just stay here instead of going out to the field?” Laura asks softly and Carmilla immediately opens her arms for the girl to crawl over and fall into.  
“Are you going to be okay?” Carmilla asks and Laura nods into her chest.  
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It just sucks because sometimes being Alpha is a necessary evil, and while I know that the pack know that, it doesn’t make it any easier when I have to do something like that,”  
“Mmm, I can’t say I know exactly what that’s like seeing as how I’m not this badass alpha, but I can understand just how difficult obligation can be,” Carmilla responds and pulls Laura just a little closer to her.

“So that was your dad, huh? I have to say, he was kind of an ass,” Carmilla jokes and Laura laughs softly.  
“Yeah, he really is just trying to look out for the pack though, I just wish he could understand that I’m not a little girl anymore. He passed this pack onto me, but sometimes it’s like he doesn’t trust me with it,”  
“Mmm, I do have one more question though,” Carmilla says and Laura hums against the exposed skin of her neck.

“Why the hell does he look like he isn’t a day over 25?”

 

 


	15. A Werewolf History Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura fills Carmilla in on some pack history, JP comes up with an idea, and Perry propositions Carmilla.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a lot longer to post than I would have liked. Honestly, this chapter has been frustrating me for like a week. The Emma is great at motivating me but she didn't quite poke me enough to get this chapter out any sooner. I'm hoping there won't be such big gaps in between updates, but we'll have to see I guess.

“Yeah, I thought that one might come up eventually,” Laura says almost sheepishly.   
“Right, so how much do you know about werewolf lore?” Laura continues and Carmilla shrugs.   
“Not a great deal really, just enough to survive,”

“I can work with that, I guess. See, most people don’t know a great deal about werewolves but one of the reasons that my species has lasted so long is because we have an ageing ability, a sort of immortality, so to speak,” Laura explains and Carmilla gently sits up so that she can see Laura’s face.   
“Wait, you’re immortal?”   
“Well, technically yes, just not right now,” Laura answers and receives a puzzled expression.

“It’ll make more sense once I explain, trust me. Anyway, like I was saying, werewolves have a sort of immortality that most other supernatural species don’t. We can choose to stop ageing, for a few different reasons. The reason my dad looks more like an older brother is because he chose to stop ageing in order to lead the pack,” Laura continues but Carmilla stops her once again.

“Why did he need to stop ageing to lead? You make it sound like he’s been an alpha for the last century,” Carmilla says and looks to Laura for an answer.

“There have been Alphas that have ruled for that long, my dad was only Alpha for around 19 years. He became Alpha when turned 20, the youngest Alpha the Hollis pack has ever had, at least until I took over anyway. He met my mom about a year later and by the time he hit 23 they had me. Technically, he didn’t have to stop ageing, he chose to when my mom left. Whenever I asked, he just told me that at 25 he was in peak condition to rule, so he stayed that way. Honestly though, I think he was just waiting for my mom to come back, and I guess he’s still waiting,” Laura explains, her voice growing soft towards the end.

“I’m not gonna lie, I feel a little cheated. You wolves can just turn immortality on and off whenever it suits you. I was murdered and all I got was this stupid vampire gig,” Carmilla says lightly, clearly trying to cheer Laura up.   
“It doesn’t work quite like that,” Laura shakes her head and Carmilla raises an eyebrow, falling silent to let Laura continue.

“It’s not some sort of tap that we can just turn on and off, it’s a one-time thing. Once a wolf chooses to stop ageing they can continue on as an immortal for as long as they like. If they decide to begin ageing again they can, but it’ll be for good. Once we start again we will continue to age normally until we die,”  
“Sounds like a pretty big commitment there,” Carmilla muses and Laura hums.

“Yeah, I guess. There are lots of different reasons for wolves to stop ageing, for the most part everyone seems to be pretty happy with their decisions,”   
“Like what?” Carmilla cocks her head and leans down to rest her face on her hand.   
“Some do it to ensure the safety of their pack, like my dad. Some do it for survival, like Lina,” Laura responds and Carmilla perks up in surprise at the mention of the young wolf that she had grown quite fond of.  
“What happened to Lina?”

“Lina originally came from a neighbouring pack, and from a high ranking family. One day, she and her family were on their way over to us for some sort of meeting but before they could get to us they had an accident. A truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and swerved into their lane, they hit the truck head on and three of the four people in the car were killed on impact. Lina survived, but the psychological trauma from the accident triggered her ageing ability,”

“That kid couldn’t have been any older than 16 and she’s already stopped?” Carmilla asks and Laura chuckles.  
“Yeah, ‘that kid’ is older than I am. She was 16 at the time, but that accident was before I even became Alpha,”

“Why is she still training with the younger wolves then?”   
“After we took Lina in, she bonded quickly with Kirsch and his younger cousin. Those three became close and they were practically inseparable, I guess Lina found a sort of safety blanket with the boys but while Kirsch was her age at the time he kept ageing and she didn’t. Kirsch went on the become my Beta and lead the training program. Lina wanted to train with both boys, so she just waited for Kody to be old enough to train and joined his class with him,” Laura explains and Carmilla starts again.  
“Wait, Kody? Like fluffball, self-proclaimed gift from God, just about wets himself every time I look at him, Kody. He’s Kirsch’s cousin?” Carmilla clarifies and Laura laughs at her.  
“Yeah, that’s the one,”   
“I guess they do have weirdly similar eyes. You said there were a few different reasons, what were the others?” Carmilla asks and Laura softens.

“Some do it to find their mate, either they think that they aren’t going to find love in that time so they are willing to wait for a few decades and go from there, or they may have found their mate and it isn’t a good time. Some just want to spend the rest of their lives with the one they love. I guess it really just comes down to finding someone worth living forever for,”   
“Have you?” Carmilla asks quietly and Laura looks into her eyes.  
“Have I what?”   
“Found someone worth living forever for?” Carmilla amends and gazes into the wolf’s eyes.   
“Maybe I have,” Laura whispers before leaning forward and closing the gap between them.

Carmilla hums happily into the kiss and pulls Laura up to rest against her. There’s no urgency behind the kiss, and Carmilla just lets herself relax into the girl above her.

Laura can feel herself relaxing into the kiss, and she simply lets herself enjoy this moment amidst the newfound chaos that the next few days would no doubt bring.

Both girls enjoy the embrace and savour the moment before Carmilla breaks the kiss gently and gazes up.  
“Hey, Laura?”   
“Yeah?” Laura answers softly, noticing the glimmer of mischief in her vampire’s eyes.

“How old are you?” The question surprises Laura and she leans back a little bit.  
“19,”   
“How long have you been 19?” Carmilla’s voice takes on a dramatic edge and Laura rolls her eyes as she catches on.   
“Oh, don’t start that Twilight shit on me. I’m 19, I became Alpha at 16 and I’ve been Alpha for 3 years,”

Carmilla laughs at her own joke before replying, “Okay, I just wanted to make sure I haven’t been getting freaky with an 80-year-old or something,”

Laura gasps and slaps the vampire lightly on the arm, “Are you freaking kidding me? You’re a vampire, and you are like 3 centuries old. Wait, I don’t actually know how old you are either. How old are you?”   
“17,” Carmilla’s voice goes all deep and she gives her best Blue Steel.   
“Oh, go screw yourself,” Laura laughs and whacks her again.

“But I’d much rather screw you,” Carmilla pouts halfheartedly and Laura raises a brow with an unamused look.  
“Alright, relax. I’m 334,” Carmilla sighs and Laura hums happily.  
“And you were worried I would be the old one. Look at you, talk about robbing the cradle,” Laura jokes and Carmilla suddenly looks at her bare wrist.   
“Oh dear, would you look at the time. It’s past your bedtime, Little One,”   
“You suck,” Laura grumbles when she realises that Carmilla is teasing her.   
“I do indeed, quite well might I add,” Carmilla responds happily with a waggle of her eyebrows.   
“Oh, shut up,” Laura rolls her eyes before leaning down the silence the girl with a kiss. Carmilla is happy to oblige and the two girls fall into one another again before their peace in broken by a knock on the door.

Laura groans and Carmilla raises a brow in annoyance, “You know, you are lucky you made me promise not to hurt anybody, because the pack sure knows how to test me,”   
“Come in,” Laura calls and the door opens before JP cautiously pokes his head in.

“I’m terribly sorry to disturb you, Miss Hollis, but I’ve found something of importance to show you,” JP begins and Laura sits up, encouraging him to enter the room.   
“What’d you find, JP?”

“I was thinking about the upcoming battle and I thought that some research was in order. I spent many years trapped in the computer systems thinking of ways that I could potentially be of service in the case that anyone decided to fight back against the woman that imprisoned me. I remembered a weapon that I had read about, and thanks to the excellent resources in the Pack library, I was able to find a book detailing the weapon,” JP explains, lifting the book in his hand and opening it up.

“The Blade of Hastur, forged from the burnt bones of Starspawn and meant to shatter all those that oppose it,” Laura reads before nodding and glancing at a shrugging Carmilla.   
“That could work,”

“The only problem being that it’s apparently sealed in an underwater cavern, 1000 feet below sea level,” Laura sighs.  
“I could get it. A little water and pressure depth are hardly enough to concern a vampire, especially when I’m doing it for a pretty girl such as yourself,” Carmilla says and Laura perks up again.

“Excellent, based on my research and my knowledge of vampire anatomy, the sword should be located along the coast. It should only take an hour or so for a healthy vampire to travel there,” JP speaks again and Carmilla takes it in stride.   
“Alright, I’ll go get the sword. I’ll take Computer Whiz over here, just in case things get hairy and we should be back in a few hours,”

“That sounds like an acceptable plan, but perhaps we should wait until morning. It is rather late already, and if we travel during the day we are less likely to encounter anything of the supernatural persuasion,” JP reasons and Carmilla nods.  
“I suppose I could use a little more sleep before we go off, I’m sure Mother will leave me alone for the time being now that she’s issued her death threats,”   
“Wonderful, if we are in agreement then I shall take my leave. I do believe that Perry is wanting to speak with you though, Miss Karnstein,” JP says as he leaves the room.

“Mustn't keep Glinda the Good Witch waiting,” Carmilla sighs and offers a hand to Laura on the way out.   
~  
“You called?” Carmilla drawls as she and Laura enter the room.   
“Yes, hello. I’ve been thinking about your hex and the upcoming battle. It won’t fall on the week of the full moon, so you won’t be able to shift during the battle,” Perry begins and Carmilla nods.  
“Yes, I’m sure Mother is taking great enjoyment in that fact,”   
“Right, well, I believe I may have found a way around that,” Perry suggests and Carmilla suddenly becomes far more interested in the conversation.

“Keep talking,” Carmilla replies and Perry nods before continuing.   
“I won’t be able to break the hex, but I may be able to manipulate it. I’ll need to harness the power of the moon cycle, and draw from some of the power of the pack but I should be able to allow you to shift before the full moon. However, if I do this you won’t be able to shift on the next full moon,”   
“It hardly matters, I’m either dead after the battle or I’ll have broken the hex. What are we waiting for? Let’s do it,” Carmilla states but Perry holds her hands up in front of her.   
“I’ll need both yours and Laura’s permission for the spell to work,”

Both Perry and Carmilla look at the Alpha who nods her head quickly, “Of course, whatever you need to help Carm,”

“There’s one more thing,” Perry says hesitantly and Carmilla waits for her to continue.  
“You won’t be your panther when you shift this time,”

“What will I be?” Carmilla asks in confusion.

“A wolf,”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked the chapter, if you have any questions or just want to express your feelings, please leave me a comment. I will happily respond to them. It lets me know that you guys like what I'm doing and it helps motivate me to keep updating.


	16. Another Fucking Spell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perry casts another spell, and Carmilla takes a dip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit is going to start hitting the fan in the next few chapters, so get ready for that. In the meantime, enjoy. 
> 
> The Emma, I think you'll like this one.

“Come again?” Carmilla asks and Perry sighs before responding.  
“It’s a side effect of channelling the energy of the pack, you’ll be able to shift into a wolf instead of a panther temporarily,”   
“And you’re sure it’ll only be temporary, right?” Carmilla attempts to clarify but the look on Perry’s face doesn’t exactly reassure her.   
“Well, I can’t be certain, every spell comes with risks but I believe your abilities should return to normal afterwards,”   
“Forgive me if I seem a tad sceptical,” Carmilla replies dryly but Perry can’t really fault her.

“It wouldn’t be so bad being a wolf for a little bit, would it?” Laura asks in a quiet voice and Carmilla turns away from the witch to look at her.  
“No, I suppose it wouldn’t,” Carmilla softens and gazes at the girl, squeezing her hand in reassurance.

“If we are in agreement then we should discuss the details of the spell,” Perry clears her throat before speaking and effectively regains the attention of the two women that had been staring at each other for quite some time.

“What details might those be?” Carmilla asks and Perry stops to think for a moment.  
“Well, I’ll need some time to gather the resources for the spell, but our main concern is when to do the spell,”   
“I’m ready when you are,” Carmilla states and looks to Laura for a nod of confirmation.   
“I’ll gather what I need then, if the two of you could meet me outside in the field in about a half hour we can begin,”

~

“Hey, you okay?” Laura nudges Carmilla lightly and pulls the girl from her thoughts.   
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just thinking about what’s coming, this battle isn’t going to be a walk in the park,” Carmilla replies and Laura leans into the girl, looking up at the stars before them and feeling the calm that comes with being out in the open air.

Before long the pair sees Perry approaching and get to their feet, Carmilla slightly more bothered by the action than Laura.

“Are you ready, Carmilla?” Perry asks after making the necessary preparations.   
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Carmilla breathes and kneels beside Laura when Perry gestures for them to do so. Perry dips her fingers into the bowl in her hand and withdraws them, now coated in the deep purple concoction she had mixed together. The witch leans forward and draws a symbol first on Carmilla’s forehead, and then Laura’s as she begins to chant in a language that despite her many years, Carmilla has still been unable to comprehend.

Carmilla can feel the symbol on her forehead begin to heat slightly as Perry’s eyes begin to glow and her chanting continues. Carmilla reaches down and interlocks her fingers with Laura’s as she begins to feel the familiar haze of magic take over her. Before long she can feel the magic pulling her out of her conscious state as she vision fades to black.   
“Fuck,” Carmilla whispers as she feels herself start to fall, her senses picking up nothing but Laura as she finally succumbs to the magic.

~

“Carm, can you hear me?”

Carmilla groans as she opens her eyes, seeing first Laura, then the moon, and finally a concerned Perry.   
“Fucking magic,” Carmilla grumbles and Laura laughs before helping the girl in her arms into a sitting position.

“Do you feel okay?” Laura asks and Carmilla grunts in response before realising that perhaps the situation calls a little more effort than just simple sounds.  
“Yeah, I feel a little light-headed but that seems to be a regular occurrence when working with Ginger Poppins over here,”

“I’m going to ignore that, because I’m much more interested in knowing if the spell worked or not,” Perry huffs and Carmilla takes a breath before giving herself some space and focusing on shifting.

A moment later, Carmilla feels the familiar release of shifting but there’s definitely a foreign feeling this time. Carmilla opens her eyes to see Laura staring at her in awe before breaking out into a huge smile that makes Carmilla’s stomach clench up in a way that is becoming familiar, despite not having felt it in over a century.

Carmilla elects to push that feeling away for deeper contemplation at a later date and shakes her body and stretching out, catching sight of dark fur and strange looking paws that definitely don’t belong to her panther. As Carmilla adjusts to being in this new form, Laura shifts into her wolf form and lets out an excited yip.

Carmilla can’t help but feel herself growing in excitement as she watches the girl bounce around. Carmilla finally decides to join her in her joyful bounding but as she goes to take a step she completely misjudges the movement and bowls head over tail to land in an awkward pile. The dazed wolf lifts her head and looks up to see Laura laughing at her, or at least the closest a wolf can get to laughing.

“Remember, you aren’t a panther right now. Wolves and Panthers are very different animals, you’ll need to take it slow while you get used to a new set of movement, Carmilla,” Perry says in a reprimanding tone but the wolf can see that she is fighting to keep her amusement hidden. Carmilla huffs at the witch but sits up slowly, feeling a familiar tug at her ear. Carmilla looks over to see her golden wolf waiting for her.

Taking it much slower this time, Carmilla balances her weight and takes one step and then another. Laura walks along beside her, leaning her weight against the dark wolf whenever she starts to over balance.

Before long, Carmilla seems to grasp an understanding of how to move in this new form and is able to move around faster and easier. The two wolves begin to yip and run around, playfully tipping at ears and tails.

Perry shakes her head as she watches the two wolves, one golden as the sun, and the other black as the night. She finds herself smiling as the two play together and for a moment she can forget about the stress and worry that the upcoming battle warrants.

~

“Are you sure you don’t want to take some of the other wolves with you? I mean really, it’s not a big deal to pull some people out to go with you. They’ll be ready in like a half hour tops,” Laura tries to persuade Carmilla again, despite the fact that it hasn’t worked another of the other twelve times in the last hour.   
“Cupcake,” Carmilla interrupts her and placing her hands on Laura’s cheeks until Laura stops to look at her.   
“I’ll be fine, I promise. We’ll be back in like three hours, okay?” Carmilla continues in a reassuring tone and Laura nods her head.

“Please be careful,” Laura pleads in a quiet voice.  
“Of course I’ll be careful, I’ve got you to come home to,” Carmilla smiles before leaning forward for a parting kiss.

“You too, Jeep. Don’t go getting yourself hurt,” Laura says to the man standing nearby, clutching a backpack.  
“I’ll do my best,” JP replies and Carmilla finally steps away from Laura as the two head out to retrieve the sword that will hopefully give them some sort of chance against Lilita.

The initial trip isn’t as bad as Carmilla had originally thought, in fact, it was actually quite nice to just run. Sure, she had a purpose but the freedom that came with simply being able to feel the breeze against her face, and getting to watch JP stumble on occasion was an added bonus. Despite his vast knowledge of vampire theory, the practical aspects apparently still caught up to him at times

The fun part ended when the pair arrived to find the cliff they had been searching for, specifically the fun ended when Carmilla saw just how high up the cliff was from the water level.   
“You’ve got to be shitting me,”

“Is there a problem, Miss Karnstein?” JP asks, genuinely concerned.   
“Is there a problem? Have you seen that freaking drop? I could take a nap in the time it would take to hit the water,” Carmilla exclaims, lifting her hand above her head and dropping it back down again to emphasise her point.

“I’ll admit it is rather high, but on the positive side, the map of the area suggests that there is a path that leads to a cove at the bottom so that you won’t need to climb back up the rock face,” JP replies, pointing a finger briefly to the bottom of the cliff before returning it to its original position tucked into his chest.

“Great, that makes it all better,” Carmilla’s tone is dripping in sarcasm and JP opens his mouth to respond but ultimately closes it again.

“Pardon me for asking this, but are you afraid of heights?” JP finally asks, and Carmilla scoffs at him.  
“No, I’m not afraid of heights. I just don’t particularly enjoy the idea of leaping off a cliff and free falling for a half hour,” Carmilla responds and glance over the edge again.   
“Well, actually, based on your estimated weight and estimation of the distance to the water you will only be falling for a little under 8 seconds,” JP pipes up but the glare that Carmilla shoots him silences the vampire once more.

“And you’re sure it’s down there?” Carmilla asks, and the man nods his head.   
“The force of the fall should put you almost at the opening of the cave, you’ll just need to swim for a bit and find your way inside,”

“Great,” Carmilla sighs and moves away from the edge to start preparing herself for the jump. Carmilla opens up the backpack that JP had brought with them and double-checks that there is, in fact, a towel before she takes her phone out of her pocket and removes her wristbands, dropping them into the bag. Next, she kicks off her boots and pushes down her jeans, taking notice of the vampire that is now politely averting his gaze as she pulls her shirt over her head.

Finally, Carmilla stands in only boyshorts and her bra and she takes a few deep breaths before she approaches the edge again.   
“I really don’t like water,” Carmilla mutters before leaping off the edge and takes the remaining 7 seconds of freefall to really think about the choices she’s made in her life to lead her to this point.

~

“Alright, that was the most underwhelming cove I’ve ever seen. It was basically just a strip of sand, some rocks, and a shitty path heading upwards,” Carmilla announces with her newly acquired sword in hand as she reaches the spot she left JP.

“Fraulein Karnstein, I am Baron Vordenberg, so nice to officially meet you,” A voice that makes her skin crawl addresses Carmilla and immediately sets alarm bells off in her mind as she takes in the scene before her. Carmilla bares her fangs and moves to stand next to an uncomfortable JP, keeping her eyes on the old man that had been causing problems for the Hollis Pack for years, and the two hunters standing either side of him.

“Now, now. There’s no need for violence, I’m simply here to make a proposition,” Vordenberg attempts to placate the angry vampire who doesn’t miss the fact that both of Vordenberg’s lackeys are reaching into their jackets.

“I’m sorry, but those stakes in their hands don’t exactly put me at ease,” Carmilla snaps, her tone dangerous. Vordenberg chuckles and snaps his fingers, humming to himself when the stakes are once again hidden.

“Now, if I may, I have a matter that requires discussion. Introductions are of course necessary, and while we have already become familiar with your friend, allow me to introduce my associates. Melanippe Callis, and Theodore Straka,” Vordenberg opens his arms and gestures to the hunters beside him.

“Names don’t matter to me, I’ll gladly rip their throats out regardless. Now, I suggest you explain what the hell you are doing here before I do just that,” Carmilla warns and the old man laughs.   
“Of course, Fraulein. I’m here to propose a truce between the hunters and the werewolves,”

 

  



	17. Funny Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura and Vordenberg talk alliances, and Carmilla and Mattie get a talking to from Perry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a little while guys, I got held up with my other fic, but I can tell you with certainty that the battle begins next chapter. Prepare yourselves for the next chapter, and enjoy this one.

“Forgive me, Fraulein, but perhaps you didn’t hear me?” Vordenberg starts after a solid 30 seconds of silence from the vampire.   
“Oh no, I heard you,” Carmilla states, shaking of the temporary amazement at the current circumstance.   
“Of course, of course. When I did not receive a response I began to wonder,” Vordenberg amends but glances pointedly, waiting for the expected response.

“So, let me get this straight. You followed us all the way out here to offer a truce between the two factions that have been at war for decades, if not centuries? You are just expecting me to roll with it?” Carmilla asks, watching with great skepticism as the old man in front of her nods his head in an eccentric notion.   
“That is correct, now if we could discuss the terms of the alliance with the Hollis Alpha be can all rest easier,”

“What part of what I said sounded like agreement to you?” Carmilla cuts in and stops the old man in his tracks.   
“Well, I don’t really need your approval, Fraulein. I simply thought it right to inform you before we took this matter further. Common courtesy you see,”

“And what exactly makes you think that you are going to have any more luck with Laura than you did with me?” Carmilla’s tone is somewhere between incredulous and amused.   
“Fraulein Hollis is a reasonable young woman, she will see that this alliance is in the best interest of everyone involved,” Vordenberg assures and Carmilla quirks an eyebrow.   
“You haven’t even told me why you want an alliance in the first place. The last time I ran into one of your toy soldiers, he shot my brother and I decided not to rip out his insides out of the goodness of my heart. Last I checked, your relationship with the wolves isn’t too much better,”   
“You see, Fraulein Karnstein, any previous grievances are not of my concern. My recent negotiations with the vampires have taken a turn for the worse, nasty business really. The alliance I had with your mother has been crumbling for some time, however, the wrongful demise of one of my men, while we are supposedly on friendly terms, is simply inexcusable. It is no longer in my best interest to side with the vampires, and with the upcoming war, it is in my best interest to form new alliances,” Vordenberg explains and Carmilla still isn’t particularly impressed.

“Right, so how do you expect me to trust you when you just admitted to jumping ship on my mother? What’s stopping you from turning on us as well?” Carmilla points out and Vordenberg gives her a frankly unnerving smile.  
“Why, survival, my dear girl. I want to spend many more years on this earth, and you want your dear sweet Alpha to survive the onslaught that is on its way. It is a beneficial arrangement for the both of us to work together, I’m amazed a clever girl such as yourself can’t see my reasoning,”

“What do you think about all of this, Tech?” Carmilla turns her attention to her companion. JP had been nervously chewing on his thumb while he was watching the exchange and he quickly straightens and clears his throat.  
“The Baron does have rather sound logic, perhaps it would be best to consult our Alpha about this. From what I can tell, there are only the three of them here. So, if we were to take them back to The Base to speak to Miss Hollis, it would be easy enough to have to the situation under control in the event of any negative reactions,” JP reasons and Carmilla nods.  
“So you think we should let Laura decide?”   
“I believe that would be the best course of action, yes. If they are truly interested in an alliance, the number of soldiers at Baron Vordenberg’s disposal could aid us greatly,”

“Well then, I guess it’s your lucky day, Vordenberg. You get to have a chat with the strongest werewolf this side of the country,”

~

Carmilla slaps her hand down on the roof of the hunters’ SUV to get their attention as they approach the front gates of The Base. Theo, as he had grudgingly informed her, rolls down the window after a moment.  
“If you all value your lives, I’d suggest staying in the car and looking as non-threatening as possible. I’m already a little nervous about how this is going to go, we are an hour later than we should have been,” Carmilla calls out and glances down as the man behind the wheel nods in response.

“Let’s do this,” Carmilla says to JP as they both make their way off the roof rack of the car. Carmilla simply vaults down with one arm on the car and the other clutching her sword, while JP climbs down in a much more careful manner. Once the two are on the ground they head towards the main gate.   
“It’s up, Charlie, open up,” Carmilla yells out to the wolf on guard and soon the gate opens up for them. As they walk into the base, Carmilla notices first that the usual wolves are patrolling and everything seems normal until she catches sight of the tiny alpha standing with her arms crossed. Carmilla falters slightly and hands off the sword onto JP without taking her eyes away from the seemingly angry girl.

“Miss Hollis,” JP greets politely and quickly makes his getaway, not wanting to stick around for the wrath that may ensue in the next few minutes.

“Hey, Cupcake. How’s it hanging?” Carmilla starts weakly and watches as the anger on Laura’s face morphs into relief before she pulls the vampire into her arms.  
“Jesus, Carm. You were meant to be back an hour ago, I thought something had happened. I thought your mom must have found you,” Laura starts to ramble and Carmilla pulls her closer.   
“Hey, I’m fine, Laura. I mean, I did technically run into someone but I’m fine,” Carmilla breathes into the wolf’s neck but the moment is short lived because Laura abruptly breaks the contact.  
“I’m glad you mentioned that, would you like to tell me why the hell you rode in on top of a car full of hunters?” Laura asks and Carmilla grins sheepishly as Laura’s anger returns.

“Funny story, I went down and got the sword but when I got back to the top of the, very large cliff, by the way, I found them waiting for me. From what I’ve been told, Vordenberg had a falling out with my mother and now he wants to form an alliance with us. I told them that it would be best to stay in the car outside though, because honestly, I was a little worried you would tear me a new one, and you actually like me for the most part, in the case that this goes pear-shaped,” Carmilla explains and Laura listens with a raised eyebrow, glancing around the vampire to eye the car every now and then.

“Vordenberg, like the Baron Vordenberg that’s been a burden on the Hollis pack for longer than I can remember? He wants to be allies?” Laura asks and Carmilla hums in response.  
“Well, I didn’t see that coming,” Laura continues and stops for a moment to think.   
“Trust me, I was just as shocked as you are,” Carmilla comments and looks over at the vehicle where she can see Theo growing impatient.

“Do you think we can trust them?” Laura asks and Carmilla turns back to look at her.  
“Not in the slightest, but if they genuinely want to help us fight against my mother than I think we could use the help. As strong as the pack is, more bodies means a greater chance of winning,”   
“Bring them in, I want to talk to Vordenberg myself,” Laura says and Carmilla nods before walking back towards the gate and waving her hand for Theo to drive in.

Despite his earlier impatience, the hunter seems to be rather hesitant all of a sudden and takes a moment to move the car forward.

Theo eventually brings the car to a stop once he is clear of the gate and the hunters exit their vehicle. Both Theo and Mel, as she had strongly suggested the vampire call her, are cautiously eyeing everyone in the area but Vordenberg doesn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest.

“Ah, Fraulein Hollis. It is truly a pleasure to meet you,” Vordenberg announces and quickly lifts Laura’s hand to his lips. Laura pulls her hand back when the old man releases it and raises an eyebrow, clearly not in favour of the sudden familiarity.   
“I don’t know if pleasure is the word I would use, but I’ve been told you wish to form an alliance with my pack,” Laura responds and Vordenberg smiles widely.

“Why yes, all of this ‘mortal enemies’ business is just so very taxing, don’t you think?” Vordenberg says and Laura regards him with skepticism.   
“Right, well if this alliance is going to happen we need to set some ground rules,”   
“Of course, of course, this is to be expected,” Vordenberg quickly complies and Laura continues.

“We have two days until Lilita and her vampires get here, my pack is already in preparation. Our fighters and training and going over strategies and the children and elderly will be leaving for an allied pack early tomorrow morning. You can send word back to your hunters, but you won’t be moving any of your forces in until they are clear. Once your forces arrive, we will make whatever preparations are necessary, be it food, weapons or boarding arrangements, and the remaining time will be dedicated to planning for the battle. Do you have any objections?”

“None at all, Fraulein. I will send word to my men, but I will, of course, respect your wishes and have them ready to arrive tomorrow afternoon,” Vordenberg responds and moves to do just that when Laura stops him again.  
“Oh, and Vordenberg? If you are lying to me and intend to do harm to my pack, I promise you will regret it. You may fear Lilita, but if you cross me you won’t need to worry about her anymore, I’ll rip your throat out myself. Am I understood?” Laura gives Vordenberg a cold smile and for the first time since arriving, the old man falters.   
“You are indeed,”   
“Excellent, I’m going to go inform my pack of the news, and then I will be back to make arrangements for the three of you. Perry is not going to be happy with me,” Laura says, speaks more to herself towards the end before turning on her heel and walking off to find Kirsch and Perry.

“She is quite something,” Vordenberg remarks as Laura disappears inside.  
“That she is,” Carmilla responds, praying to whatever higher power that they haven’t just condemned themselves.

~

“You sure you don’t want to give this thing a go, Cupcake?” Carmilla asks, twirling the Blade of Hastur in her hand.   
“I’m good, I was never one for weapons. I prefer to use my God-given ones,” Laura replies, flashing her eyes for emphasis.   
“Suit yourself,” Carmilla shrugs, enjoying the familiarity of the blade now that she has become accustomed to it.   
“I’d love to give it a swing, Sis,”   
Carmilla grins as she hears Mattie speak from across the training room.   
“Who am I to deny you that?” Carmilla asks innocently before glancing over her shoulder to make sure that there aren’t any unsuspecting souls in the way. Seeing that she is in the clear, Carmilla winks at Mattie before launching the blade in her direction.

Mattie spins away from the rapidly approaching blade at the last second and snatches it from the air smoothly. Mattie laughs as Perry shrieks at the display from nearby, and brings the sword back down to inspect it, or at least she tries to. A moment later, the sword slips from her grip and raises few inches above her before coming to a hover beside a furious Perry’s outstretched hand.

“I don’t care if the two of you are centuries old, or if we are going to war tomorrow, I will not tolerate this level of foolishness. You are in a room full of people, that was so incredibly dangerous,” Perry immediately begins to reprimand the two as her face turns an angry shade of red.   
“Relax, Darling, we are being perfectly safe,” Mattie replies as Carmilla blurs over and attempts to retrieve her sword.

Perry sees her coming and moves the sword out of reach.  
“Oh, no you don’t. I’m not giving this back until you’ve both thought about your actions,” Perry declares, pointing a finger between the two of them as Carmilla groans.

“Cupcake?” Carmilla whines but the Alpha holds up her hands from where she is still standing on the other side of the room.   
“Don’t look at me, Carm. Even I know not to mess with that woman,”   
“Oh come on, you are just saying that because she finally agreed to make you brownies again,” Carmilla retorts and Laura shrugs.  
“Still, I’m staying out of this,”

Carmilla groans again and spends the next few minutes actively trying to regain control of her sword as Perry easily maneuvers it away. 


	18. The Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pokemon Go, I solely blame Pokemon Go for delaying my chapter on my other story and delaying this one. I wrote this in one day, and the other one over like two weeks.

“I’m not about to pretend that we aren’t about to go to war, or that there isn’t a chance that we might lose people in this battle. I wouldn’t blame any of you for backing out now, but I just want to say how grateful I am to have all of you standing behind me,” Laura says as she stands in front of her pack. The room is filled with nervous energy and she can feel Carmilla is restless beside her, on her other side, Kirsch seems to be almost vibrating with excitement. Laura can see Danny standing near the back of the crowd, her gaze trained firmly on her alpha.

“That being said, I want you guys to go out there and kick some ass. Let’s show those assholes what the Hollis Pack is made of!” Laura yells and the pack let out a cheer of agreement.

A few moments later, Laura picks up the signal from the scouts that the vampires are here and the battle has begun.

~

Carmilla could deny it all she liked, but some deep primal part of herself missed this. The scent of blood and fire, the sounds of screaming and flesh tearing. She missed the rush of adrenaline that was coursing through her body as she dispatched vampire after vampire with more ease than she’d like to admit. She missed being in the heat of the battle, but looking over and seeing Laura taking down their enemies just as easy as she was, makes Carmilla realize that she doesn’t need this life anymore. This might be a war, and she may have been in countless before, but never had she had such powerful reason to fight. Watching Laura made Carmilla realize just how much she doesn’t need the battle to feel alive anymore.

Carmilla can feel her body flooding with a different sensation and we a grin she blurs towards to incoming vampires. She doesn’t have a clue as to what their names are, so they must have been relatively new to Mother’s army.

Without a further thought to the beings in front of her, Carmilla launches herself to land a top the first vampire’s shoulders. Before he has time to react, Carmilla grabs his head in her hands and pulls, reveling in the sound of flesh tearing as she removes his head from his shoulders. As the vampire in falling, Carmilla tosses the head still in her hands at the other vampire, taking the moment of surprise to leap off of her perch and landing in front of the vampire.

The other man has just enough time to drop the severed head before Carmilla is winking at him and plunging a hand into his chest to rip out his heart. The look of surprise is still on the vampire’s face as he drops to the ground and Carmilla looks beyond him to see Laura fighting three vampires at the same time.

Carmilla is perfectly content to sit and watch Laura take them down, but a moment later she sees a fourth running at Laura’s back. Carmilla’s body kicks into motion again without even telling it to and Carmilla lines up her shot before launching the heart still in her hand at the fourth’s head. He immediately stops in his tracks as the heart makes contact with a wet thunk. The fourth turns around to search for his attacker, only to find Carmilla waiting behind him. Without hesitation, Carmilla reaches out a hand and rips out the man’s throat.

Carmilla must have caught Laura’s attention because the wolf turns to face her and a vampire behind her takes the opening and moves to blindside Laura. Before the girl can turn around, Carmilla is moving again. Judging the space between Laura and the vampire, Carmilla leaps into the air and flips over Laura’s head. Carmilla lands in the rapidly closing space just in time to send a fist into the attacker’s face. As her punch levels the vampire, Carmilla catches him by the collar before he can fall. Carmilla watches the man’s face change from anger to fear as she latches on this neck with her fangs.

Carmilla’s jaw closes over his windpipe and she uses her arms his push him away, his body falling and a solid portion of his throat remaining behind. Carmilla spits out the hunk of flesh in her mouth, and opens and closes her mouth a few times to get rid of the foul taste in her mouth. For whatever reason, another vampire’s blood had never once appealed to her, and in this moment she begins to rethink that particular decision.

Carmilla is still sticking her tongue in and out of her mouth as she turns around to face Laura, a grin on her still bloody face.   
“Funny seeing you here, Cupcake,”

Laura rolls her eyes but smiles in response. Her face changes in an instant and as she looks past Carmilla before pushing the girl to the side with urgency. The second Carmilla is clear, Laura ducks beneath the approaching vampire’s swing and forces her body up into his torso, taking them both down to the ground. With alarming efficiency, Laura yanks out the vampire’s heart and jumps back up to her feet. Laura wipes her hand off on her jeans and approaches Carmilla again, keeping a careful eye on their surroundings.

“Is now a bad time to tell you how hot that was?” Carmilla asks with a wink and Laura shakes her head as they lean back to back against one another to watch for incoming threats.

“You know, those two actually work pretty well together,” Carmilla comments as she rips one vampire’s arms off to beat another with them.  
“Yeah, they’ve known each other for years. That tends to happen,” Laura replies from her spot on top of a vampire’s shoulders. She twists her body and snaps the vampire’s neck with the thighs before flipping off as he falls. The looks over at where Kody and Lina are fighting side by side. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t proud of those two, she could only imagine how Kirsch must be feeling.

A moment later, Laura notices that Kody and Lina are starting to get boxed in. They must realize it too because they both shift into their wolf forms and their attacks become more desperate and less precise. The moment she hears Kody let out a pained yelp, Laura knows she needs to step in and help this. She goes to move towards them but a new wave of vampires swarm, and she looks to Carmilla, as she begins to move to take out the new wave. Laura takes down each vampire as quickly as possible but she just can’t find an opening to help her younger packmates.

Laura and Carmilla finally manage to wear down the onslaught and as the final vampire runs towards her, Laura squares her shoulders and plants a kick in the centre of the man’s chest. The force of the kick sends him flying into Carmilla’s waiting hand, and she rips out his heart, tossing it over her shoulder. Laura nods to Carmilla and the both turn to run towards Kody and Lina, but Laura’s blood runs cold when she realizes she might be too late.

Kody is on the ground and Lina in looking worse for wear as a female vampire takes a swipe at Lina’s throat. The moment before the vampire makes contact, Kirsch appears and pushes Lina out of the way. Kirsch lets out a pained groan as the vampire claws across his stomach, he falls to his knees and as the vampire winds up for a final blow Carmilla appears behind her and strikes out with her hand to sever the other vampire’s spine.

Carmilla pushes the vampire aside and moves to Kirsch’s side as Laura comes to a stop and helps Kody up, careful not to put too much weight on his injured leg. Lina watches for anyone else around them, but Laura can feel worry rolling off her in waves for her injured friends.

“Laura, he’s losing a lot of blood,” Carmilla says, and Laura looks at the growing bloodstain on Kirsch’s shirt.   
“I need to get these two out of here, Carm. Will you be okay?” Laura asks and Carmilla gives her a weak grin before nodding her head at Lina.   
“Of course I will, I’ve got this one to help me,”

“Alright, just take it slow,” Laura urges as she lifts Kirsch and supports both boys on either arm.

“You ready for this, Spot?” Laura hears Carmilla ask as she moves her injured packmates as quickly and gently as possible.

She’s almost to the door when Danny appears in front of them, concern written on her face.  
“Oh my God, Kirsch,”

The girl immediately rushes forwards to help support Kirsch and Laura carefully shifts Kirsch’s weight onto Danny in order to focus on supporting Kody. The group manages to make it part way down the hallway before they hear the telltale sounds of their enemies barreling inside after them. Without any other option, they push through the door to the library and place the boys down before running to the door to barricade it. The vampires continue to throw themselves against the door as Laura tries to think of a course of action to take.

“We need to get them down to Medical, Laura. We need to get these assholes out of the way first,” Danny grits her teeth and throws her weight against the door.

“What do you propose we do, Danny?” Laura asks in frustration.   
“This,” Danny replies and pulls Laura away as she opens the door and kicks the nearest vampire out of the way. The door closes behind her and Kirsch cries out in pain as he attempts to get up from his chair.

“Kirsch,” Laura rushes over to him to lower him back down.  
“She needs me,” Kirsch protests and Laura nods in understanding,  
“I know, but you’re kind of bleeding out. So, how about I go instead?”

Before Kirsch can respond, Danny staggers through the door again.  
“It’s okay, I took care of it. I’m not saying I want props for doing all of that with broken ribs but-,” Danny suddenly cuts off with a gasp as she falls to her knees.

“Danny?”   
“D-Bear?”

Blood is already staining the back of her shirt as Laura and Kirsch watch in horror before Laura moves to pick Danny up and settle her on her lap as she sits down.

“Sorry, Lawrence, but it needed to be done,” Theo says, as he walks through the door with a knife in hand and Laura can smell the wolfsbane coating the blade.   
“Did that little fucker just stab me?” Danny asks, her face already a deathly pale, as Laura nods her head.   
“Well, that sucks,”

“Hey, Danny, stay with me, okay? You’re gonna be okay,”   
“I’m not so sure about that, Hollis. You listen to me, okay? I’m not scared, I’m not,” Danny whispers as she goes still and slumps in Laura’s lap.  
“Danny?” Laura murmurs and receives no response.

Laura can feel the tears welling in her eyes, as a mix of grief and fury takes over.   
“How could you?! We trusted you!”   
“It’s nothing personal, Hollis. We just received a better offer, Lilita can be very persuasive,” Theo shrugs and Laura tenses her jaw.

“You lying son of a bitch!” Kirsch growls and tries to throw himself at the man but falls short with a choked cough, clutching his side. Kody limps over to help him as Kirsch levels a deadly glare at Theo but remains on the ground.

“Lawrence, Hollis, the hunters are going AWOL. Your furballs need back up,” Mel comes to a stop as she takes in the scene before her.   
“In the back, you didn’t even have the decency to give her a fair fight?” Mel asks and Theo shrugs, inspecting his knife.   
“I could have lost, that would have been unacceptable,”

“Jesus Christ, at least try to find a scrap of decency and let them take care of her body,” Mel spits and Theo considers it for a moment.   
“Alright, fine. I’ll go tell Vordenberg that you’ve made your allegiance clear. I might see how many wolves I can take out on my way there,”   
Theo walks out and the room falls into silence.

“I need to get back out there, if then hunters have turned on us we are going to need all of the help we can get,” Laura says, her voice emotionless after she hands Danny’s body over to Kirsch.

Fury radiates from the Alpha as she makes her way back out to the battle.

 

 


	19. It's Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is shorter and it is the second last chapter. The final chapter will definitely be longer, I promise. One more to go. Also, Emma's reaction to the last chapter was priceless. I really wish I'd filmed it.

The second vampire that approaches Laura loses his heart before the first even hits the ground. Laura barely registers the motion of flicking her wrist to rid herself of the bloody organ as she moves with a deadly efficiency she rarely tapped into. There are only two things that are on Laura’s mind in her current state of rage. One being finding Carmilla, and the other being destroying Vordenberg. If ever there was a time that Laura would stick to her word, it would be now, and she had no doubt in her mind that regardless of how this battle ends, Vordenberg would die at her hand.

Laura plows through another six vampires before she finally sees Carmilla again, her mind registers that Lina is no longer with her and her eyes quickly scan the surrounding area until she sees the familiar spotted pelt.

Carmilla sees Laura approaching and sends her a smirk, fully prepared to send a snarky comment with it. Before she can say anything, a vampire steps in front of Laura, and the brutal way in which Laura takes him down give her pause. The smile drops as she takes in Laura’s appearance and realizes that a large portion of the blood on the wolf’s clothes smells distinctly of Danny’s scent.

“Laura?” Carmilla asks cautiously as the girl reaches her.   
“Danny’s dead,” Laura states and sidesteps around Carmilla to plunge her fist into the chest of an incoming vampire.

“What?” Carmilla asks and stops in her tracks as Laura rips off another’s head.   
“Vordenberg turned on us, and Theo put a knife in Danny’s back,”

Carmilla shakes off her shock in time to intercept a large swarm of vampires headed for them, a few hunters are amongst the wave and Carmilla falls silent as she watches the girl that is usually the sunshine in the room slaughter one enemy after another, slowly coating herself in their blood.

~  
“Laura, there’s too many of them,” Carmilla warns as she pushes a headless vampire just in time to trip another vampire up as he was aiming at her head.   
“We have to keep fighting. We can’t lose, not now,” Laura growls and Carmilla takes out a hunter. Carmilla has her back turned when she hears Laura let out a pained yelp. Quickly disposing of the hunter she was fighting, Carmilla turns to see Laura falling to her knees, a large gash opening on her shoulder.

Carmilla blurs to the hunter standing over Laura and flicks her wrist, slicing open his throat. She shoves him to the side and crouches to help Laura. Before either of them can comprehend what is happening, Carmilla feels a sharp pain across her back, and they are surrounded. Carmilla and Laura both try to assess the situation but before they can do anything, one vampire finally blurs forward with his fangs bared and aimed for Laura’s throat. Carmilla tries to move to intercept him, but the slash marks in her back slow her down just enough that the vampire in almost on Laura when a fist goes through his chest.

The vampire falls to the side as a blood-soaked Danny Lawrence stands before them with fangs glistening.

“Danny?” Laura asks in awe, still on her knees.   
“Less talk, Hollis. More killing,” Danny growls, a different sort of sound than she had come to expect from her former Beta.

“I like the sound of that,” Carmilla grins and turns to face her foes with a new wave of adrenaline. The surrounding forces soon fall and while Laura and Carmilla breathe a sigh of relief, Danny disappears in search of more.

“How is that possible? I saw her die, I held her in my arms,” Laura asks and Carmilla feels a twinge of jealousy shoot through her. A moment later, her common sense follows along behind and reminds her that even without romantic feelings for Danny, Laura would have been shaken by her death regardless.

A laugh breaks through the sounds of battle and Carmilla freezes, before moving quickly to place herself between Laura and her mother.

“Look at all of this glorious carnage, isn’t it lovely, darling?”  
“Finally deciding to make an appearance, Mother? Worried your lackeys weren’t doing the job?” Carmilla snaps back, her voice still slightly shaky despite her best efforts.

“Now, Carmilla, I came all this way to see you and all I receive are snippy comments. Give me a hug, won't you dear?” Lilita opens her arms but Carmilla stays firmly in place, her jaw tensed.

“Over my dead body,” Laura states and steps beside Carmilla as Lilita laughs again.   
“I look forward to it,”

“Laura, please don’t rush into this,” Carmilla warns and Laura turns to face her with a look of determination that has grown all too familiar. Carmilla forces the images from her nightmares away as she struggles to focus on what is happening now.

“Ah, so you are Laura. I had assumed so, but I’ve learned it’s best never to underestimate my daughter’s capabilities. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s sought out twins in order to have a matching playset,” Lilita smiles as the wolf stares her down.

“You’d be surprised just how much Carmilla has changed from the girl you knew,” Laura replies confidently and Carmilla’s gaze snaps up in surprise.

“Carmilla, dear? Your lovestruck puppy has far too much reach on her chain. Either you teach her to behave or I’ll be happy to put her down for you. Make the decision so that we can go home and forget about this dreadful rebellion business,” Lilita has apparently grown tired of pleasantries so she completely looks past Laura to speak to Carmilla once again.

“I am home, Mother. The people here care about me more than you ever have,” Carmilla says and it’s Laura’s turn to shift her gaze.   
“Nonsense, no one cares about you more than I do. Everything I do, I do for your own good,” Lilita scoffs and Carmilla’s gaze turns angrier.

“You’re wrong, you don’t care about me at all. You just think of me as your property, you can’t stand the thought of not having me to order around whenever you’d like. I’ve always been an object to you, I can’t believe how long it took for me to realize that,” Carmilla responds and Lilita looks taken back for a moment before her calm facade slips away.   
“Very well, it’s that’s what you choose to believe there’s no point in arguing. You’ve clearly made your choice, I’ll take care of this mess and we’ll be on our way,”

A moment later, Lilita begins to mumble under her breath and shadows begin to weaves through the air and around her body before forming into a dark shape in front of her. The shadows soon form a black, writhing mass in the shape of a large dog.

“Laura,” Carmilla warns a second before the shadow creature leaps. In her mind, Carmilla already has the movements to intervene planned out but as she goes to put her plan into action she realizes that she is once again unable to move. Her gaze finds Lilita with a satisfied grin on her face, eyes eagerly watching the events unfold.

Laura growls and sidesteps in time to wrap her arms around the beast, tossing it to the ground behind her as she shifts into her wolf form. The creature rolls at an awkward angle on impact but doesn’t make a moment before rising to its feet and attacking once again. This time, Laura is already in a battle stance and ducks low in order to sink her teeth into the creature’s front leg. The beast manages to shake Laura off and attempts to dig its teeth into Laura’s flesh, missing by a fraction of an inch as Laura dodges out of the way. The snapping of jaws sends prickles up Carmilla’s neck but she is still unable to move. As Carmilla struggles against her mother’s spell, Laura finds an opening in her opponent’s defenses and jumps forward to sink her teeth into the same spot, aiming to hinder the creature’s speed that very nearly matched her own.

The shadow creature lets out a demonic yelp before reaching down to bite into Laura’s injured shoulder. The Alpha’s pained yelp causes something inside of Carmilla to snap as rage floods her body, and she feels the spell shatter. Carmilla doesn’t waste another moment before she shifts into her wolf form and leaps onto the back of the shadow creature, distracting it enough for Laura to finally close her jaws around its throat.

The creature eventually stops struggling before it disappears altogether, leaving Carmilla to drop back down to the ground.

“Some things have changed indeed. You’re quite fond of ruining my fun, aren’t you?” Lilita comments as the two wolves turn to face her with teeth bared.  
“No matter, there’s more fun to be had,”

With an evil smirk, Lilita begins mumbling again, only this time instead of shadows, a bright light begins to appear. Carmilla watches cautiously as the light grows bigger and brighter, eventually seeming to replace the sun altogether. Carmilla notices that Laura’s hackles have lowered into a relaxed state, and the golden wolf soon begins to walk forward. Carmilla bounds around to Laura’s front, borrowing from the girl’s usual playbook and tugging on her ear. The alpha shrugs her off and continues to walk towards the light, towards a grinning Lilita.

Panic builds in Carmilla’s body and her muscles bunch up, pacing alongside Laura while she struggles to think of a plan. Carmilla sees Lilita move once again as she raises a glowing hand, almost reaching out to Laura. It’s at that moment that Carmilla makes a potentially terrible decision. She takes a breath before shifting back into her normal form and grasps her sword in her hands. Carmilla tightens her grip on the hilt and blurs towards her mother, swinging the blade wide and slicing off the outstretched hand. Lilita screams in a mix of pain and anger, reaching up to cradle her arm as the spell disappears. Behind Carmilla, Laura snaps out of her daze and takes in the scene. A moment later, Laura leaps at Lilita’s chest, landing dead centre and pushing the witch to the ground. Carmilla doesn’t hesitate as her alpha bounds out of the way and she swings the blade down, slicing the blade through Lilita’s neck.

“Off with her head,” Carmilla breathes, as a wave hits her. Carmilla pulls her blade back up and straightens out as the hex that had been plaguing her shatters. Beside her, Laura shifts back into her human form and leans into her vampire. Carmilla wraps an arm around the girl and relaxes into her.   
“We did it, we actually won,” Laura murmurs and Carmilla nods.

 


	20. Moonlit Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura deals with the aftermath of the battle, and she and Carmilla finally catch a break.

The speed alone in which Lilita’s army scatters when their leader falls in actually quite laughable. Carmilla and Laura both cling to one another as the battlefield clears.

“We should go find the others,” Laura says and Carmilla nods as they turn together and walk back towards The Base. They make it inside the wall before they find Danny and Kirsch cornering a bloody and battered Theo and a cowering Vordenberg.

“Danny,” Laura starts but Danny is already in motion, no longer held back by the Alpha’s authority. Before anyone can take another step, Danny swipes down at the kneeling man’s throat. Theo splutters and chokes before falling to the ground and eventually going still. Vordenberg falls even lower to the ground in fear and Danny moves towards the old man, she pulls back her arm once again but Carmilla’s hand snaps out and catches her by the wrist. Danny growls in annoyance but Carmilla holds steady as Laura steps around them to face Vordenberg.

“Ah, Fraulein Hollis. Thank you for stepping in and stopping this awful business,” Vordenberg grovels, already preparing to stand. Laura growls and the man falls back down again.

“I warned you what would happen if you crossed me, Vordenberg. Either you aren’t as smart as you think you are, or you severely underestimated me,”

“Now, Fraulein. You must understand my reasoning here, I was merely doing what was in the best interest of my people. If it were your pack that was at risk, would you not have made the same decision? We are the same you and I,” Vordenberg wrings his hands together as he speaks.

“You didn't do this for your people, Vordy. You did this for yourself, so no we aren’t the same. There isn't a single thing that means more to me than my pack, and if you really cared about your people, you wouldn't have crossed mine,” Laura states and Vordenberg sinks down as he realises that his words aren’t fazing the Alpha.

“Make your peace, Baron Vordenberg,” Laura offers as she takes a step closer.   
“Fraulein, please,” Vordenberg starts but Laura is done listening. With a lightning quick movement, Laura rips out the old man’s throat.

“I have to say, I’m not at all sorry to see those two go,” Mel says and Laura turns to see the hunter walking up with one arm the other. Mel’s step falters when she sees Danny standing nearby, but she shrugs her shoulders before addressing the taller girl.  
“Good you see you’re okay, Lawrence,”

Danny growls as she assesses the threat level of the new arrival but she doesn’t have time to react because Laura is already between them.   
“It’s alright, Danny. She didn’t turn on us,”

“I’m glad to see you made it out,” Laura says and Mel nods her head.  
“You too, I really am sorry about what the old man did,”  
“He paid for his mistake, I’m just glad you didn’t make the same one,” Laura replies, her eyes scanning the area as a few wounded hunters slowly approach.

“If it’s all the same to you, I only have a few trusted hunters left and I’d prefer if you didn’t kill any more,” Mel gestures behind her and Laura notices that the hunters don’t seem to want to harm them after all.   
“Of course,” Laura agrees and Mel looks over her shoulder to wave her hunters closer.

“I’m hoping that we can salvage that truce long enough for us to get out of your hair,” Mel begins and Laura tilts her head.   
“As long as you don’t make the same mistake as Vordy over there, I’d very much like to continue our truce. If you’ll accept, I offer you and your hunters sanctuary, and the knowledge that you will be well taken care of should you ever require our services,:   
“Oh, well that makes my life easier. I accept your offer of sanctuary and extend the same,” Mel responds confidently but stops after looking over once again at the redhead behind them.

“I’m sorry, I’d just really like to know how she is still breathing,” Mel points to Danny and Laura sighs.  
“Yeah, you and me both,”

“It sounds as though we’ve arrived at the perfect time,”   
Mattie’s amused voice draws everyone’s attention as she approaches along with Perry, Laf, and JP.   
“You’ll find that our resident computer glitch had Mother’s secret vampire recipe stored in his brain, with the help of Miss Perry here, we were able to restore the beanstalk to her former towering glory,”

Danny growls at the obvious dig but only receives a smirk from the other woman.  
“It seems she’ll need to be taught to control her impulses, but it’s nothing a few good beatings won’t fix,” Mattie continues, almost daring the baby vamp to take a swing.

“How about we deal with that at a later date? I’m glad everyone is okay, but I’m tired on a cellular level and I have a giant chunk taken out of my shoulder. I’d love it if we could all just get along at least until everyone has been able to heal properly,” Laura interrupts and nods her head in satisfaction when she receives a unanimous, ‘Yes, Alpha,”

~

“You know you can’t sneak up on me, Carm,” Laura says without taking her eyes off the night sky, as her vampire appears beside her.  
“Who ever said I was trying to sneak up on you? Carmilla asks and kisses Laura on the cheek before offering her hand.

“I would however, like to know if my super attractive, wonderfully talented alpha would like to go for a run with me,”

“You are being way too nice. Did you and Lina break something in the training room again?” Laura asks with narrowed eyes.   
“I am offended you would accuse me of something like that,” Carmilla gasps, feigning insult. “Also, yes,”

“What did you break?” Laura tries hard not to smile at the girl.  
“Only a window, and possibly Kirsch’s arm. Nothing we need to worry about right now though,” Carmilla answers with a grin, wiggling her hand once again in offering.

“You broke Kirsch’s arm?!” Laura exclaims and Carmilla waves her off.   
“He’s fine, it’s probably already healed by now. My offer still stands though,”

“Alright, fine, but you are apologising to Kirsch as soon as we get back. I’m also holding you responsible for corrupting Lina,” Laura tries to scold but ends up rolling her eyes at Carmilla’s exaggerated pout.

Carmilla grins in victory and finally grasps Laura’s hand in her own before they take off at a run.

~

“Okay, I get that this is meant to be a surprise and all, but do I really need to have my eyes closed?” Laura asks, one arm wide out in front of her, and the other clinging onto Carmilla’s arm as they walk.   
“We’re in a field, Cupcake. If you had your eyes open you’d see the surprise from a mile away,” Carmilla points out and smiles openly at the pout that forms on Laura’s face.

“How much further?” The excitement was apparently getting to her because the tiny alpha was practically pulling Carmilla along in search of her surprise.   
“If you’d kindly stop trying to yank my arm off, you can open your eyes,”

“Oh my God, are those cookies?” Laura gasps and rushes over to the setup.   
“Really, the cookies are the only thing you acknowledge here?” Carmilla sighs as Laura plops herself down on the blanket that Carmilla had set out, completely ignoring the champagne and strawberries beside her in favour of stuffing an entire cookie in her mouth.

“The cookies are the more pressing matter, I’ll get to the rest of the stuff later,” Laura shrugs around a mouthful of cookie as Carmilla slumps down first to her hands and knees and then to rest on her stomach with her elbows holding her up. Laura scrunches her face up in happiness and reaches out to place a cookie in Carmilla’s waiting mouth.

“Oh, strawberries,” Laura says as she reaches for a few and repeats the process of first consuming several and then feeding Carmilla one. After a peaceful silence, Carmilla rolls onto her side to look over at Laura.   
“I don’t suppose you are going to open that champagne anytime in the next half hour?”

A grin grows on Laura’s face and Carmilla can tell that she has thought of something inappropriate.   
“Thirsty, Karnstein?”

“You have no idea,” A filthy grin presents itself on Carmilla’s face as she leans up to cradle Laura’s face in her hand. Laura releases a squeak of surprise but she happily melts into the kiss. Carmilla crawls over as Laura leans back and uncrosses her legs. Carmilla fits herself between Laura’s legs and sighs into the kiss, perfectly content to just stay here in this moment.

Laura’s legs wrap around Carmilla’s waist and pulls her closer as Carmilla reacts on impulse, grinding down and earning a moan. A moment later, the hands that were roaming on the bare skin of Carmilla’s back are at her chest and pushing her back.  
“Mmm, Carm. As much as I’m enjoying this very much non-PG activity, with our track record, I can’t imagine we have much longer before someone comes looking for us,”

“See, we don’t need to worry about that tonight,” Carmilla replies, leaning now to nip lightly on Laura’s neck.   
“God, you know I can’t think straight when you use your tongue like that,” Laura groans, feeling Carmilla smirk against her neck.

“That’s good, because straight is definitely not the way I want you,” Carmilla responds, moving back to Laura’s mouth to tug lightly on her bottom lip. Laura’s groan turns into a growl at this and she pushes up into Carmilla’s mouth, taking control of the kiss before pulling back again.   
“Seriously, Carm. I love that you set this up for me, but we should really take this back to our room,” Laura tries to be stern but she lets out a gasp when Carmilla rolls their hips together.   
“Sweetheart, when I said we don’t need to worry, I meant it. At least not for tonight,” Carmilla tries to kiss her again but Laura pulls her head further back to look at the other girl.   
“Carm, what did you do?”

“I may have told the pack that if anyone bothers us tonight, I’d make them into my coat for the winter,” Carmilla mumbles and Laura frowns at her.   
“Carm!”   
“What, I was kidding. Besides, the only ones with a pelt pretty enough for that are you and Lina, and I happen to quite like the both of you the way you are,” Carmilla reasons and Laura rolls her eyes.   
“You have to stop threatening our pack, Carm,”   
“For you, my dear Alpha, I’ll consider it,”

“You’re totally just trying to sweet talk me, aren’t you?” Laura squints and Carmilla grins before pressing a soft kiss to her lips.  
“Absolutely,”

Comfortable in the knowledge that they aren’t going to be interrupted any time soon, Laura grabs the hem of Carmilla’s shirt and strips it off the girl before flipping her over and doing the same.

~

“Hey, Carm,” Laura asks, staring up at the sky and enjoying the feel of Carmilla’s hand running softly up and down her bare shoulder.   
“Yeah?”  
“I know it’s been a few weeks since the battle, but I was just wondering. Now that all of that stuff with your mom is over, what are you going to do now? You’ve got the whole world at your feet, you never have to worry about what your Mother is going to do to you next,”

Carmilla frowns at the girl next to her, the same girl that has now found a freckle on Carmilla’s side to be particularly interesting.   
“Laura,”   
“Hmm?” Laura doesn’t look up so Carmilla leans over and gently tilts her chin up so that the alpha is looking her in the eye.

“I would have thought that I’d made it pretty obvious, but I have no intention of going anywhere,” Carmilla says and Laura frowns.  
“Oh,”

“I’m not really sure how it happened, but somewhere along the way on this crazy, chaotic trip, I managed to fall in love with this dorky alpha. She has a rather concerning set of priorities when it comes to cookies, she’s the most stubborn person I’ve ever met and I’m quite gifted at annoying the hell out of her, but if she’ll have me, I’d very much like to spend the rest of my life with her.” Carmilla continues softly, falling in love a little bit more at the look of awe on the other girl’s face.

“It just so happens that I’ve also managed to fall in love with someone I would never have expected. She’s this super sappy vampire that likes to think she is a badass. She turned up at my gate one day and proceeded to make my life far more interesting. She annoys the hell out of me and is definitely more stubborn than I am, but if she’ll have me as well, I’d also very much like to spend the rest of my life with her.” Laura responds after a moment and Carmilla has no chance at stopping the smile that spreads across her face.

“Is now a good time to ask if you’d like to be my girlfriend, or whatever other term your sappy, vampiric ass would like?” Laura asks and Carmilla kisses her before she has a chance to be offended that her girlfriend has called her sappy twice in 30 seconds.

“I’m not sappy,” Carmilla grumbles after breaking the kiss and Laura laughs.   
“Sure, and I can’t sprout a tail on a whim,” Laura responds and Carmilla absolutely does not pout.   
“I love you, Carm,”   
“I love you too, Laura,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy wow, I can't believe I've finally finished this story. I'm not gonna lie, I've been putting off finishing this chapter so that I didn't have to end it yet. I'm glad I finally have though, and I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you to the people that have commented, and to the people in my life that poked and prodded in order to keep me updating.


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